GATE - Thus the Red Army fought there
by Brother Coa
Summary: After the GATE opened in Red Square on 8'th of March 1989 the world is in panic and it looks at USSR as it's only line of defense. Soviets are not wasting any time and one month after the incident they are sending invading force to submit the other world and prevent any aggression from happening again. The "New World front" force is led by 41 year old Alexei Kostadinov.
1. Prologue

"It is very cold, or perhaps Afghanistan made me soft in all those years I spent down there" major general Alexei Kostadinov thought as he was entering the building of the Central Committee in Moscow. He showed his documents to the clerk working at the entrance who pointed him to the office where he needed to go.

When he arrived he knocked on the door and came in, he noticed that nobody was in the room. "It seems that I have arrived earlier than expected, no matter. I will just wait until he arrives" Alexei declared so as he unbutton his major uniform and put it on the nearby hat stand. He started rubbing his hands together, even exhaling his warm breath, as he walked near the window to see what is happening outside. The Moscow was as beautiful as he remembers it, not much changed in five years since the last time he was visiting the city. Alexei is standing and looking toward the eastern part of the city, part where he grown up as a kid. It is there where he got into his first fight, where he finished his grade and high school, where he got his first kiss from a girl. That place will always have a special place in his heart. He will never forgive himself for abandoning it after he finished Moscow University and enrolling into the army.

But that was also a long time ago and he is not a young man he used to be anymore. He is now 41 year old brigade commander with lot of medals and recognitions behind him. But he is also a man without wife and kids. His only family in his second part of life is his army comrades. He planned for early retirement or perhaps finding job in some state administration or political party position. Hell, maybe even starting how own private work. And then when he finally settles up he would get married and start a family of his own. His sister already has two kids and third is on the way, he enjoys being an uncle and buying them gift every year for Christmas. But he would also love to buy his own kids presents one day and watch them playing with them from the lovely embrace of his beautiful wife, on a sofa near the fire cabin.

But such desires, even if simple in nature, are very hard to obtain. He shifted his gaze toward Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, the place where all of this that is now threatening to take it away from him started nearly a month ago…

At that moment someone opened the door, Alexei turned around and saw a man who arranged this meeting. Ivan Lebedev, one of the head people in the Politburo and his childhood friend. Once Ivan closed the door and saw Alexei wide smile appeared on his face. He put his case on the floor and head toward Alexei, his hands widely opened to greet him.

'Alexei!' he shouted, Alexei himself got to attention and greeted Ivan.

'Comrade Director, I came here per your instructions' Ivan hugged Alexei and kissed him three times. Alexei had no choice but to break his attention and return the gesture.

'I told you million times that you don't need to be so formal in my presence. The dogs that do that are doing it because I made them, and for a very good reasons. But you Alexei, you are my man and as such you don't need to stand to attention when we are alone.'

'Understand comrade Director.'

'And please call me Ivan, we are friends after all. Right?' He winked toward Alexei and smiled, Alexei put smile in response. 'Why don't you sit down here' Ivan pointed to the chain in front of his desk. Alexei sit down with Ivan sitting in his place. As soon as he sit down Alexei continued to rub his hands.

'Don't tell me that the famous steel kid is cold? I mean… I know its 6 am and the temperature is still low but this should be nothing for a man like you.'

'It seems that my tour in Afghanistan made me soft, as well as my posting in Kazakhstan.'

'Da, it seems so…' Ivan makes a glaring look 'are you sure that you are still Russian?'

'Well I can still drink five liters of Votka before going out, does that counts?' Ivan started to laugh like crazy, Alexei's joke hitting his funny bone.

'Hahahaha… I see that at last you can still drink as Russian. While we are on this topic, would you want some Votka?'

'No thanks, I am still on duty' Alexei look sadly at the bottle Ivan is pouring for himself.

'Suit yourself' he poured a glass and drank it all in one shot. Alexei is a big Votka lover just like most Russians are. And the Votka Ivan is drinking is a rare sort and very expensive one. But Alexei is true to his duties and to him it would be a shame for Red Army officer to drink while on duty. You may never know when Motherlands will need you, and it is in those moments that you need to be sober.

'Ugh… this was a strong one… Right, we will get to business at hand as soon as the third guest arrives.'

'The third guest?' As soon as Alexei finished his question the door opened. He turned around to see men in dark brown coat entering room. Alexei recognized him as soon as he laid down his eye on him, a KGB agent. The agent put his coat and ushanka hat on stand and sits down in char next to Alexei.

'Alexei, this is agent Marko from the KGB. Marko this is major general Alexei Kostadinov' two of them shake hands and greet one another.

'It's a pleasure agent Marko.'

'Likewise major Alexei.'

'Now that we all met it is time to get down to the business' Ivan shifted his look toward Alexei, 'do you perhaps have any idea why I summoned you here old friend?'

'If I am to guess I would say that it has something to do with the incident from a month ago.'

'Indeed it does comrade major' Marko answered, Alexei then shifted his attention to Ivan.

'Tell me old friend, what really happened that day? I saw the news that day and I read papers ever since, but the answers I read there seems… unbelievable.'

'Indeed Alexei, if I had not seen the remnants of the incident myself I would have thought that someone is making a fool out of me.'

"The incident" that is name given to the event that shocked the USSR and the world. 8'th of March 1989, times are turbulent as we have just retreated from Afghanistan after 9 years of war. But people want to put bad memories behind them and on that day great celebration was made on the Red Square in Moscow. It was international women's day, so thousands gathered to see parade and to enjoy local shops with various goods like candy and country clothing. Everyone was having a good time, children were laughing, young couples dancing and old people enjoying the sweets that were offered on stands – and then it happened.

Some kind of object appeared suddenly, nobody was paying attention to it as everyone thought it was part of the program. And when unknown enemy force appeared from that object it was too late. Dead were stating to pile really fast and what few police officers were stationed that day were unable to stop the attackers who according to reports kidnapped large number of people and dragged them into the object. Disaster would be even greater if President Gorbachev didn't order for the doors of Kremlin to be opened for the people to seek refuge there and if Moscow garrison didn't react as fast as they did. The enemy even used some kind of flying beasts to harass the citizens around Red Square, but in the end they were no match for our MiG's and Mil's.

The entire incident was filmed and broadcasted wide, several foreign countries also managed to broadcast it thanks to their own crewmen's stationed there at the time. Needless to say, the entire world is still in shock and geopolitical tensions that shaped the world last few decades are almost forgotten now thanks to this new crisis. And everyone again look at USSR for salvation, this time even the US.

'But what you read in newspapers Alexei is not the entire truth.'

'That is to be expected, after all the people don't need to worry too much. Last thing we need right now is nation-wide panic that can turn global' Ivan smiles and looks at Marko.

'See, what did I tell you?'

'Well it is to be expected from one of such stature and such military record' Alexei looked at Marko. The man could not be more than 24. His tightly neat brown hair with brown eyes that shine like crystal and neatly cut mustaches could not hide his age showed by exposed cheeks, soft skin and not a trace of a beard hair above his neck. But the boy has well developed body, as expected from KGB operative, and his shirt and pants are so neatly tight that even parade participant would be jealous. And his stance was as his shoes – shining with pride in every manner possible, this man is the type of men you don't want to joke around with.

In comparison to him Ivan was like old men who just got into his late puberty. Overweigh, which is not good for his 48 years. His former glorious black hair is now mere shadow of its former self, now almost completely grey and with gigantic bold area at the top of the head. His eyes always red from many unslept nights and early alcoholic wakeups, his face pretty rough and unshaved, his nose short and fat unlike Marko's who is long and thin. Honestly now, if he was not such political animal and great administrator he would never go higher from market stand, probably selling Vodka of all things.

But Ivan is a good man, despite his hygiene and looks being very questioning. He helped more than one person in life one way or another and because of that he advanced really fast up to the Politburo itself. In contrast to him Marko looks like men without any emotions at all, quite normal giving that his job is to shoot enemy of the state without mercy.

'I see that you cheeked up on me.'

'Of course, and I am very impressed by your record comrade major general Alexei Kostadinov.'

'Thanks, I guess… So why bring me here old friend, what is going on exactly? Why is KGB interested in me all of a sudden?' Ivan suddenly became very serious and put his hands in front of himself, closing them together. Alexei knew the moment he saw it that something very serious is going to happen.

'As you said it yourself Alexei, the real truth is hidden from the public to prevent massive panic. But this time that is not the case. I can assure you that everything you read in newspaper and saw on television is true. USSR came under attack from foreign power, a foreign power that came from the object now known as GATE.'

'GATE?'

'A codename we have given to object, it is certainly better than "Object x-724"' Marko added explanation to Ivan's sentence, Ivan continued.

'The invasion force was beaten back and many prisoners were taken, but not without a cost. Around 3000 Soviet citizens have lost their lives that day. Further 2000 were injured including dozen of foreign guests. We have captured 480 enemy soldiers, all of them veering medieval armor and weapons.'

'Medieval?' I ask with my eyes wide open, I cannot believe what I just heard.

'Correct, and even if we did beat them here some of the retreated back and there is no way to know for sure will they launch another invasion one day or will the GATE collapse in a month.'

'We have send some recon teams through the GATE and they reported being on top of the hill, beyond which is vast valley, forest and mountains. There also reported about massive army gathering in the valley as we speak' Marko read from the report that he held in his hands.

'So they are planning for another attack.'

'Precisely Alexei, so we must act fast…' Alexei interrupted Ivan right there.

'Hold on… Are you telling me that there is actual land on the other side of the GATE?'

'Yes.'

'And that we are going to invade it?' There was a moment of silence, Alexei sighed as he knew the obvious answer.

'Let's call it "preemptive strike" for now. The one also requested in urgency by UN and western countries, as well as non-alignment movement. They want to make sure that situation is contained, and right now the Soviet economy as well the economy of our European allies is booming because of UN and western donations.'

'So they are giving us money to defend the world…'

'And we are using them to successfully implement Gorbachev's reforms of the Soviet system. A miracle I might say, and not too soon. The situation was becoming so dire that it is a question if Union would survive next few years. This invasion postponed that, for now at least.'

'Ivan… I know that our economy is not the strongest one out there in the world but was it really that bad?' There was silence for few seconds in the room. Ivan looked toward Marko who sighed.

'It was worse than it seems. Our investing into military stretched the budget to its limits, add Chernobyl disaster two years ago and Gorbachev's slow reforms and what you end up with is empty state budget. This invasion turned the tide, first US and UN send us aid in money and materials only to forgive all of our debts. They would never do it before as they see our country as oppressor of civil rights. But this situation changed everything, even nationalists who were secretly planning to secede from the Union now calmed down and abandoned their plans in favor of bigger security.'

'So in short, this invasion ironically saved the Union' Ivan nods.

'Indeed it has, and because of that we need to take action in order to profit the most from it' Alexei nod this time, fully understanding the stakes involved.

'What is plan comrade Director?' Ivan laughs. Alexei see that he even made Marko put a miniscule smile on his emotionless face.

'That's the spirit Alexei! Ahem… the next stage of the plan is preemptive strike. We sent expeditionary force through the GATE, defeat local army that is gathering there and take control of surrounding area. there, Once that is done we will establish base of operations and slowly expand out sphere of influence outside the imminent area around GATE, making our country and, indeed, our very planet safe again from foreign invasions.'

'Glad to hear it, and who will lead this expeditionary force?' Suddenly silence filled the room. Both Marko and Ivan are looking at me, serious gaze in their eyes. It took me moment to notice… 'Me?'

'That's right Alexei, congratulation' Ivan smiles.

'Wait, why me of all people?' Alexei stood up 'There are many generals and potential general in our great Red Army? Why should I be the one to hold the torch and head toward new world?'

'Because comrade major your profile marks you as a perfect candidate' Marko opened another set of documents from his bag. Alexei only now noticed that he entered the room with a bag full of documents. He didn't saw it at all when he entered the room. "So that's how good KGB is…" he thought. 'You are in your early forties and you are already a brigade commander. I see here that you were also awarded "Hero of the Soviet Union" medal for your heroism in Afghanistan. Very impressive… very impressive indeed comrade major.'

'That still does not explain….' Alexei tried to interrupt but Marko ignored him.

'I also see here that you are not like other commanders. You like to lead your men closer to the front rather from your base of operations, even going into fight yourself if the situation is dire enough. You are also very idealistic person, and that idealism does not stop only with soviet citizens. Because of that even US commanders regard you as "one of the levelheaded soviet commanders", I can see here that you even show compassion toward Taliban fighters. Arresting them and giving them to Afghanistan authorities rather than to outright execute them. I would personally do the latter' Marko stated so and looked toward Alexei. Ivan is also anticipating his answer. Alexei took a deep breath before he answered.

'I could not execute them, they surrendered. It would be a war crime in that case.'

'I see, and what about the fact that some of them probably killed your own men?'

'When we captured them it was in their village. Upon further investigation we concluded that they were not Taliban fighters.'

'They were not?'

'No, they were shepherds and villagers who got influenced by Taliban Islamic propaganda. They only wanted to defend their families and homes, and Taliban demonized us in their eyes. So instead of killing them I decided to turn them over to authorities instead and hope that they would be able to un-brainwash them from Taliban influence' there was a moment of silence, broken by Ivan's slow and silent smile.

'Hahahahaha… What did I told you Marko? He is perfect for the job.'

'Indeed he is comrade Director, only now do I see after witnessing his answering for myself.'

'Wait… you consider my methods perfect for this job? Wouldn't you be more suitable for someone harsher or with more combat experience?'

'Normally yes, but this is not the normal case. What we need right now is someone with a cool head, compassionate men, loved by the soldiers and civilians alike and one who will be approved by the west as well. You fit in all those categories' Ivan declared so, with a frim grim on his face. Alexei sees that he has no intention of hiding his happiness. He can also sense something else in all of this.

'Furthermore, you are going to embark on a campaign into the new world. We need to show everyone in that new world that Soviet Union is not their enemy. Sin that case calm and open-minded commander is much better choice than ruthless traditional one that sits in the top of our military HQ, our only conclusion when we took them into equation that locals of that world are going to rebel against us at first opportunity.'

'So in short: we need someone who will be nice toward the locals and someone who will get green light from the west. And you my dear Alexei fit both of those conditions' Alexei is lost for words. He lowers his head and thinks about all the options available to him.

'I should also mention comrade major general that there is really no option for you to refuse. Suitable replacement does not exist and Americans are already pressing for their own military force to be included in the expeditionary force. The longer we wait the harder it will be for USSR to exercise its power and sole claim to the GATE.'

'Suffice it to say: your Motherlands needs you Alexei. Would you turn your back on her?'

With this Alexei is pushed into a corner, he knew that they would play the one card he cannot refuse. To him, his Motherland is everything, his raison d'etre. To say "no" now would mean that all his life has been meaningless so far, all forty-one year of it. He took a moment to revise everything and in that moment he finally made peace with his wish. Wife, kids, life after service, grandkids… All of that will have to be postponed, probably indefinitely. But deep down inside Alexei was a soldier, an officer in the Red Army. And when Motherland calls you answer.

'I understand comrade Marko, comrade Director. I am glad that this duty has fell upon my shoulders and I promise that I will make our Motherland proud' Ivan is so happy that he could probably cry of joy.

'Excellent… most excellent comrade major general, or should I say – Comrade General of the Army' Alexei can barely believe what he is hearing right now.

'Congratulations on your promotion comrade army general,may you carry your new title with pride and responsibility that comes with it' Marko stands up and offers his hand. Alexe stood up and shake it.

'Thank you very much comrade Marko.'

'Well, if that is everything I would like to return to my duties comrade director' Marko shifts his attention to Ivan.

'Of course comrade Marko, thank you very much for participating and say hello to Boris down in the Lubyanka.'

'Will do, farewell comrades' Marko said his farewells, take his coat and closed the doors behind him. Alexei sit down again as he saw that Ivan has few more things to tell him.

'Alright, you are probably wondering about details now. Am I right?'

'As always old friend, but before all of that tell me…'

'… was there something else behind all of this? I see that you still have sharp eye Alexeei, there were some political games involved in this' Ivan talks as he pours another glass of Vodka. He takes a quick sip and puts one more. 'There were several candidates for the job, all pushed by old bastards in the committee who are still hungry for the glory of the old days. The generals they put forward are all great in their job but too ruthless and narrow to fit into what we need for a new world. I hate to say it but… if not for the Americans you would probably not get this chance. It is them who selected you out of all other candidates' Ivan drinks another quick sip and fills the glass again. 'I pushed you forward and supported you as much as I could with my political power. The Union was at the brink of collapsing, and I would not let some old glory boys to ruin our new chance just because they are too greedy for their own good' Alexei found it a little funny that he calls members of central committee "old" when he was around their age as well. At least most of them, as some of the member are well into their 60's and 70's.

'I understand old friend, now tell me: what must I do when I get there and what am I getting o command?' Alexei puts his question forward. Ivan finished one more sip of Vodka and decided that was enough. He put both glass and bottle in his desk drawer and concentrated on Alexei.

'You my friend are getting the best of the best - your own brigade from Afghanistan with Guard Tank brigade, Guard Motor brigade and one artillery division. We are taking all of them and forming a new army group called "New World front". This is all you get for now, after you break through the GATE and establish a base of operations there we will start sending aircrafts as well as ballistic defense brigade' Alexei chucked upon hearing that.

'Ivan, correct me if I heard you wrong but… are you basically saying that we will also bring nuclear weapons with us in the new world?'

'That is correct Alexei' Alexei's eyes are full of disbelief. He is alright with commanding an army but nuclear weapons are another area entirely.

'Are Americans aware of that?'

'Nope, we didn't tell them at all don't plan to tell them either. They will find out eventually, but by that time we will set them up in the new world.'

'I don't know about that Ivan…' Alexei does not hide his worries about the fact of having nuclear weapons on his disposal in new world. He really hoped he will not be forced to use them.

'It's ok, they will serve as preventive matter only. Either to annihilate potential danger to our own world or in worst case scenario to blow up the GATE after you retreat through it.'

'But won't the blas affect Moscow as well?'

'Our scientists are assuring me that the GATE would collapse instantly as soon as that level of energy is released near it. The GATE would not be able to withstand that and it would collapse. They were quite sure about that.'

'I see… Anything else Ivan?' Alexei swallowed his spit, he is getting more and more nervous with the task he was given.

'You r primary objective after establishing the base of operations is to form official relations with the people living there. Including the ones who attacked us, and I honestly thing that this will be most interesting to you giving how much you love history' Ivan smiled, Alexei wondered what he possible could mean by that.

'How so?

'First of all, it seems that the other world is technologically inferior to our own. They still sue swords and horses but also creatures we have never seen before. Many of them were not human at all.'

'Not human?'

'Some of them looked like…. pigmen or something… our air force also shut down several of their… dragon like things that they used to harass local population. So be especially careful when going there, but I think in the end that our advanced technology will rule the day.'

'I will' so fantasy like world, probably like the one on Tolken's books. Alexei liked the sound of that. He like Slav mythology as a kid and he used his connections outside USSR to buy and own some fantasy books that were popular in the west.

'And last thing, which is most interesting of all' Alexei look at Ivan with full attention. 'We are already able to decipher and understand their language' Alexei is confused by Ivan's revelation.

'Already? Didn't languages take months or even years before fully understood?'

'Normally yes, but when foreign experts started working with them they were able to find some similarities' Alexei is much more confused now.

'Similarities Ivan?'

'Indeed, one of the Italians who were part of the foreign team noticed that many words they were saying are similar to Italian. After further investigation they concluded that their language takes roots from ancient Latin, with slightly different way of talking. So we were able to make quite the dictionary thanks to support of few of the prisoners who were willing to cooperate with us. Of course, you will be sent out very soon and I doubt you can learn entire language in that short span of time but there are several people who are nearly finishing their language proficiency and will act as translators for you in the beginning. Alexei?' Ivan noticed that Alexei is looking at him with very confused look in his eyes.

'Ancient Latin? Are these people possibly Romans or descendants of ancient Rome?'

'We don't know that, we asked them about Rome and nobody knows what that is. But who knows what the real truth is? At least you got interested a little more, no old friend?'

Ivan is right about that. Alexei did get a lot more interested all of a sudden. He stop to think again about everything. This mission is very dangerous. Basically kills his chance at normal life and family but the benefits outweigh the negatives. Plus he can always find family in that new world and settle down if everything goes to hell and he is still alive in the end. And who knows? Maybe everything will be fine in the end and he will go into retirement in a few years. But first, he needs to start working toward that goal. And that work starts from today. Alexei got up and looks at Ivan with straight face at attention.

'Understood comrade Director, I will take my responsibilities with highest regards as Red Army officer and I will carry them with such virtue that I will make my Motherland proud' Alexei states so with pride shining from his stance. Ivan laughs as he cannot hide his enjoyment from this, he stands up and offers his hand to Alexei who brakes his stance and accepts Ivan's hand.

'That's the spirit Alexei, I have no doubt that you will be successful.'

'Thank you old friend' Alexei says so with big smile on his face. He has quite the challenge before him but he will be able to manage it.

Later that day Alexei went to his parents' home who were still living in the eastern part of Moscow, his sister was there as well with her husband and kids. All awaiting for him to return and have a decent family dinner at last, Alexei is a little sad thinking about it because he knows this will probably be the last time he will eat with them like this. Ivan scheduled expedition force to enter GATE in two days. Not a lot of time to do anything except to spend as much time with your loved ones as you could.

As soon as he came back home Alexei was greeted like a lost son, tears flowing from his family members eyes. His mother and father too happy to even move, his sister and her kids embracing him followed by hug from his brother in law. They all went inside and after Alexei settled up they all started to eat together, a nice family dinner that has become a tradition every time they are all together in one place. Before he sat down he gave kids toys he bought them while he was stationed in Astana and told them to go and play in the next room. His family faces became grim as they knew that can only mean one thing – he is going to tell them something they probably won't like. And he was right about that.

'Mother, father, sister, Stevan… This will probably be the last time we are eating like this. So I want it to be as memorable as possible' everyone is looking at him in disbelief.

'What do you mean by that Alexei?' his father asks him, Alexei took a moment to clear his throat.

'I am chosen as a commander of expeditionary force that will go on the other side of the GATE that appeared on the Red Square. Chances that our mission will be successful are not very high and as such I don't want to build false hope and promise that I will return' at that moment his mother and sister broke into tears and his father started to shout at him.

'How can you even say that in a time like this? Do you not care about the feelings of your mother and sister? Is the Army and service to the country everything that exists in your life?' Alexei didn't say anything, after few moments his father calmed and sit down again. 'Exactly when will you depart?'

'In two days, but tomorrow morning I have to be in Kremlin to be briefed and prepare. So this is probably the last night I will be spending here.'

'Come on Alexei, don't talk like that. Sure the chances are low but they are not nonexistent. There is a possibility that everything will be fine in the end' Stevan is trying to comfort Alexei, bringing entire dramatic feeling in the living room to a close. But his efforts are not that great.

'There is Stevan but like you said they are very low. We don't know what we will find on the other side, and furthermore we have no idea even if we succeed in establishing permanent outpost that the GATE will be there forever. I might die and also I might get trapped on the other side' Stevan just stared into his meal silently. Alexei looks around to see that the situation is quite grim, his father and brother in law are silent and mother and sister are still crying. He throw a quick glance toward the living room passage only to see his two nephews peeking in silence from the corner. Alexei decided enough was enough hand took a deep breath. 'In truth I never had option to reject this, as an Red Army officer it is my duty to answer each time the Motherland calls for me.'

'And the Motherland called you this time as well son?' Alexei's father looks at his son, unrivaled rage can be been in his eyes. 'Tell me honestly, why did they choose to send you out of all highly decorated generals that sit in the military HQ or in the party high payed places?'

'Dear…' his mother tried to interviewed but she was ignored.

'Tell me son, are you really going to serve Motherland in that faraway place – or are you going to there to make sure the good old folks in Kremlin will get all the resources and the fame while you lay dead on some God forgotten rock in the middle of nowhere?' Alexei's father is harsh critic of current Soviet Government. As men who saw WW2 as a kid and join partisans when he was just 14 he is deeply disappointed by how current Gorbachev's Government runs things. He is a man who admired Khrushchev and Lenoid's way of handling things. He see current president and his reforms the main reason why the current situation as bad as it is. Alexei knew that main reason is USSR's ridiculous spending in weapons but he is wise to be quiet and not upset his sick old father.

'You don't need to worry that much about me dad, I was selected because Ivan put me in front of all others and because western politicians approved of me. Apparently they saw me as "least hazardous" of all the candidates put trough' Alexei can see his dad easing down a bit.

'If that's the case then I will approve, I trust Ivan. He may be a drunkard but he is a good men' there was a moment of silence. 'Sorry Alexei, I just got carried away because this injustice is eating me alive. Why you out of all people? Why can they give you peace and a chance to start your own family already? Didn't you sacrifice enough for the state already?'

'I think so too Alexei, you deserve to have normal life more than most people I know. And even if I have two great grandkids already one or two more would not hurt' Alexei's mother expressed her own opinion as well.

'That's right big brother, I am sure Misha and Dusan would like to have another baby brother or sister to play with' Alexei's sister also tries to comfort him. But Alexei is keeping his cold officer's expression as he slowly eats away soup. In one moment he put down his spoon and cleared his mouth.

'Thank you everyone for looking after me like that, I am really happy to a family like this. I also understand that all you want is the best for me, and I honestly really planned to file up for pension and start my own work here in Moscow. Maybe working in city's administration or something like that, or teaching history in schools. A wife and kids would have been nice as well…' Alexei made a pause to calm down. He took a deep breath before continuing. 'But this incident happened, and many our citizens were killed or kidnapped. How many mothers lost their kids there? How many children lost their parents? How many people lost their loved ones? I have my wishes and desires but duty comes before everything else. As a soldier of the Red Army it is my sworn duty to protect this country and its citizens. If that means going to another world and conquering people living there so that they could no longer pose a threat to us then so be it'

Alexei finished his little speech. He can see that his family is still sad and disapprove but at least now they understand. He throws a quick glance toward the living room passage again, his nephews are still watching behind corner. But this time he can see glance in their eyes. They probably think how their uncle is a great man. They are also probably thinking how they too can be great soldiers when they grow up. Alexei thought how it would be for the best if they became engineers or diplomats instead. Solder's life is not for everyone. Only the strongest can bear it and go through battlefield unaffected. He out of all people knew that the best, especially after the battlefields of Afghanistan. But he is confident that his sister and brother in law will give their best to lead their kids as far away from military career as possible, they will have his support after all. That is, if he survives long enough in new world to see it happens.

The next morning Alexei said his goodbye's to his family, it was hard for him to watch his mother and sister crying. But he had to be strong for their sake, he didn't let a single tear or show any emotion as he finished hugging with everyone and board car sent by KGB to take him to Kremlin.

Inside Kremlin Alexei was briefed alone by Gorbachev himself and the head members of the party committee. Ivan was there as well, but he could hardly recognize anyone else.

'General Alexei, first let me congratulate you on your recent promotion as a general of the army' President Gorbachev started speaking.

'Thank you comrade president' Alexei said his greetings, which Gorbachev greeted with smile before he continued.

'Your primary mission is to establish a permanent foothold in the region. We are suggesting building a base and a town for troops to live in as soon as you secure area around GATE. Your secondary mission is to establish diplomatic relations with people living there, see if you can also establish relations with the ones who attacked us. Return as much of our citizens as you can, by any means necessary.'

'I understand comrade president.'

'And lastly, your third mission is to discover areas full of mineral wealth and exploit them. Your primary mission is to locate as much oil deposits as possible, but if you stumble across any gold, silver or other rare minerals you are to start excavating them as soon as you can and return them to the Motherland.'

'I understand comrade president' in that moment Gorbachev put down papers from which he was reading Alexei's orders, he also put his glasses down.

'Your loyalties lie to the Soviet Union and Communist Party comrade. As such we are giving you full liberty to choose the best kind of action in certain situations. Ivan as well as few others assured me that your judgement can be of most benefits to us, and it seems that Yanks do not mind that as well. For example, if you find oil deposit in territory of the nation you established diplomatic relations it we would not mind if you take everything for us or if you share some of the resource with the natives' Alexei was surprised to hear what kind of option will be present to him, he never expected for the heads of USSR to be such... liberal when it comes to these kind of things. "I guess times really changed" he thought.'

'As you may know from world history Alexei, wherever western imperials have gone they brought misfortune and genocide to native people while taking all of their resources for themselves. We now have a chance to show entire world that Soviet Union is not the same, that we will make good relations with new nation we come across. That we will help them achieve enlightenment and share our knowledge at how to manage those recourses. Not enslaving them and taking them all for ourselves just like western empires of old. Just like USA is doing to Latin America all these decades' Alexei now knows what he must do. And indeed, in a new world it is much better to fight as less you can and build powerful alliances instead. After all, USSR is still very rich country. It doesn't really need that many resources. But it needs as many allies as possible, especially in these cold war times. Alexei is certain that US will follow after then very soon. Gorbachev cannot hold UN at bay for long, so he must act fast.

'Do you understand your orders comrade general?' Gorbachev asks.

'Yes comrade President, I will make you and the Motherland proud.'

'Excellent comrade, now go and rest for tomorrow is a big day that will go down in history. And you need to be well rested to be able to show yourself in finest light.' With that said Gorbachev and the rest of committee disbanded, Alexei was greeted by two KGB agents and escorted to nearby hotel to rest for the night.

On his last night before heading through the GATE tomorrow Alexei decided to ask KGB agent to go to nearby library and buy as much classical Russian literature as he can. He could spend years in the new world and he wants to have as much books as he can to read. It was like in Afghanistan, even if he was hundreds kilometers form home when he read Pushkin he always felt as he was back in Russia. He sat down while gathering his things for tomorrow and thought about everything one more time. Sure, the chances he will never see Russia again are high. But these are those one in a lifetime chances not everyone will get. And for some strange reason he was selected for this one, for that he was grateful to any being that watches over him from above. That night before he went to bed he kneeled down beside his bed and start praying to God, and act forbidden for the likes of him and in the state in general. But Alexei didn't care, he is a type of men who thinks that nothing is coincidence in life and that God has plans for everything.

He is sure that KGB agents are probably watching him, but giving all the circumstances so far it is not worth the effort of jailing him over something as trivial as this. So Alexei took him time and without a grain of fear prayed until late in night before he finally feel asleep.

The next morning Alexei was stunned to see how many men and equipment he was getting for this task. He knew the numbers already, but knowing something and seeing something is not the same thing. Red Square is full of elite troops standing at attention beside his own brigade, armored brigades are armed to the teeth with upgraded T-72's and T-80's and artillery brigade is packed with Uragans and even new Smerch's. Ivan was not kidding when he said that they will be bringing the best of the best. After Gorbachev held inspiring speech to all troops present at assembly Alexei was given hand command. Alexei nodded and from his position, from a turret of forward T-80 tank, he gave his first order:

'Brigades of the "New World" front – march forward!'

At his order engines of tanks and troop carriers fired away and in mere seconds they were pressing at full speed across the GATE. Alexei was calmly watching as his own tank was pasing through the GATE. Complete darkness of the hallways intrigued him, he wondered what kind of science or technology is powering this portal? The Soviet as well as world scientists were confused and were not be able to give solid answer even after one moth has passed. But Alexei knew that answers for this GATE as well must exist at the other side of the GATE.

He got a word from the tank commander that they are approaching the exit on the other side. Alexei smiled, for despite all the unknown and scare things that are bound to await them on the other side at least it will be interesting to live through all of it. And Alexei couldn't wait for his new adventure to start and to see where it will end.


	2. Alnus Hill

In Imperial Capital the Emperor Molt Sol Augustus is furious. He is sitting on his throne, looking at members of the Senate as they debated what would their next course of action be. Half of them wanted to raise another army and try to take the invaders head on while the other half wanted to send peace delegations instead.

"Damn these invaders, they are quite powerful. Wiped out half of my Legions in a matter of weeks" Molt thought. "However because of our defeat at the hands of these newcomers we are now at the risk of our vassal states turning on us and even raiding the Capital. There must be some solution to this problem…" Emperor Molt is in deep thought. He is trying to seek out solution for this problem as Senate members relentlessly argue around him.

In one moment one of the Senators stepped in the middle of the Senate floor.

'Everyone please, I know that situation looks grim but we must take action. The enemy from the other side of the GATE has begun setting up fortifications. They are trying to establish a foothold on our side.'

'I say we replenish our military might using tributes from our citizenship as well as people from our allied nations. Then we will take our newly formed Legions and push the invaders back!' one more Senator, this time an Imperial General, stood up and offered his own opinion to the matter.

'I would not recommend that general' one men, clearly in his sixties, stepped into the senate floor as well. 'I was present when our Legions tried to take bath Alnus Hill from these invaders. The magic they yield is quite powerful, our Legion were not able to reach the outskirts of the hill when they were gone. There was fire and explosion everywhere. It cut through them like knife through hot butter' everyone is silent and shocked. The Imperial Legions are the most elite military force in the world. To have an enemy that can defeat them so easily is incomprehensive, and something that scares even the oldest of veterans to the bone.

'Enough of defeatism' Emperor Molt stood up. 'The situation may be dire but we have survived worse. For now we will use the time we have to regroup and raise new Legions. In meantime, send emissaries to our tribute tribes and our allied nations. Let them assemble an army and try to defeat the invaders. The Empire will survive!'

There was cheering in the Senate, everyone go to their feet and let praises to the Emperor. The Emperor himself is smiling. He was just able to strike down two flies with one strike.

From the hilltop King Duran is watching the Alnus Hill. He is impressed by the fortifications that their enemies were able to set in such short time. To him they were quite simple. Trenches were dig everywhere around the hill with several small round huts that were dug in the ground.

'My Lord' Duran turned around to see one of his own soldiers on the horse, ready to give his report.

'Report?'

'Kings of Mudwan and Alguna have arrived with their armies. They await you in the war tent.'

'I see, and what about the enemy?'

'Nothing yet my Lord, there was very little activity today.'

'Hm… tell them I will come right away.'

'Yes my Lord' and with that the soldier departed. Duran took another look at Alnus Hill, looking at fortifications. "I do not like this one bit" he thought.

Inside war tent Duran is sitting down with dozen other kings from various allied states. Some of them are discussing their strategies for tomorrow while others are generally talking about what they were doing since the last time they met. In one moment single Imperial soldier entered the tent, each King took his own seat and listen to what Imperial soldier has to say.

'The Imperial Army is on its way, it will be here in few days. In the meantime we would like for your forces to attack tomorrow.'

'Is there any reason why would we do that and not wait for your own army to arrive?'

'The more time we wait we will give enemy more time to dug in, if you strike tomorrow when he is weak there is chance that you will defeat him. All honors and spoils of war will of course belong to the ones who succeed' upon hearing that several of the kings started yelling how their armies will be the first one who will get on top of the hill and point their flags on pile of enemy corpses.

'You are free to go messenger. Tell your generals that we will assault tomorrow at dawn' one of the kings said to Imperial Soldier. The soldier greeted them and exited the tent, the moment he left the allied kings returned to praising their own armies and claiming victories for tomorrow. All except Duran, who just silently sat there and thought about what he saw today.

'What's the matter Duran, are you displeased because your army is probably not going to get the front row tomorrow?' Duran looked at the men. It was his old friend from a nearby kingdom. The two of them have been friends since childhood.

'It's not that old friend, this entire thing seems wrong to me.'

'Wrong?'

'Look at this: there are around 10.000 enemy soldiers at Alnus. Our own force number 100.000 soldiers from all eight kingdoms. Even if enemy has some kind of advanced magic abilities it would usually be one-sided slaughter. So why are Imperials asking us to strike first instead of just striking them together?'

'Maybe they see them as small fry and don't want to bother at all?'

'Maybe… but why then assemble armies from all of its allied kingdoms if the enemy is just a small fry? I don't like how this looks one bit.'

'I think you are thinking too much old friend. Let us go and rest. There is great victory to be won tomorrow' Duran could not do much except go to sleep as his friend suggested. But before going to bed he summoned one of his soldiers in his tent.

'Lord Duran, what are my orders?'

'You are to take fastest horse in our army and to ride toward Imperial Army that is coming in our aid. Return as quickly as you can.'

'Understood my lord' and with that the soldier exited the tent, allowing Duran to finally get some rest. He calculates that the soldier will probably need two days to reach Imperials and get back to the camp. Duran hoped that his gut is wrong this time, it has been right his entire life. But only for this time, he prayed that it's wrong.

Morning came and allied armies were waiting in formation, Duran and his friend had their armies at the back as reserves. The kings of Alguna and Mudwan, with two more allied armies, put their forces in front. The morning sun illuminated the field. Metal from 60.000 allied soldiers could be seen shining from afar. King of Alguna asked his lieutenants for one final countdown before preparing to give final order to march forward. But just as he was getting ready to give the signal he was interrupted by shouting of his own soldiers from the first lines.

'Look, someone is coming down from Alnus!'

It seems that their enemy has sent some an envoy of three soldiers. One of them is carrying a white flag. They walked right to the half way between Alnus and allied lines and stopped. Duran, his friend and the rest of the king took two guards each and ride to meet them.

'A white flag, do you think they want to surrender?'

'We shall see old friend' Duran said so, he was hoping that was the case. But then again this was unknown enemy and who know what could transpire. Once the kings reach the middle they together with single bodyguard unmounted and approached the three soldiers. They were astonished to see their enemy, as they have never seen anything like them before. Enemy soldiers were not carrying armor but uniforms. Who were made from several colors, which to them didn't make much of a sense. Duran thought they may be some king of camouflaged uniforms. He also noticed strange weapon in soldier's arms, nothing like anything he ever saw. But from the looks of it Duran thinks it may be ranged weapon like crossbow. He, as well the rest of the kings, noticed helmet that was only metal part they could recognize. And on the helmet they could see shining red star. They could not recognize that symbol from any of the armies they encountered before.

'Greetings….you will have….to excuse me. I have…. Learned your language…just….recently…And I am…only now… able to….speak it somewhat…. sensible.' Duran is impressed, the soldier in the middle had strange accent and he obviously has some hardships in speaking their language but at least they can understand him. Even if he is making pause every few seconds to remember what word should go next.

'We can understand you quite clearly. Now tell me, are you going to surrender to us?' King of Alguna asks, soldier needed few seconds to understand question and formulate the answer.

'Before that….I have a….question for…. you. Are you….with the….Empire?'

'We are eight great kings from allied nations of the Empire. Out loyalty is to the emperor himself who granted us autonomy in exchange for our loyalty.'

'My…commander noticed…. that your… uniforms are not… same like uniforms… of Imperial soldiers. In that…. case I would… like to offer you… a chance to disengage from …this battle' his offer shocked all present kings.

'Disengage?' King of Mudwan asks.

'Yes. Our quarrel… is with the….Empire, not… you. So my…. commander is…. giving you… a chance to… return to…. your homes and… live to see another day' this time the soldier was greet with outburst of laughs from several kings.

'You really expect us to disengage because you ask us? You who are dressed like poor peasants and don't even have armor to ware? I think that it is you who should ask for mercy.'

'Yeah, we will be generous today and let you leave Alnus alive' two other kings answered to the soldier. He didn't even blink while they were laughing. Duran noticed that other two soldiers didn't blinked as well. There was something about them that he didn't like at all.

'In any…case… that is… your decision. I… will be…taking my… leave now. But… before that,… my commander asked me….to give…you… this' soldier took something from the backpack of soldier near him and tossed it to the ground in front of allied kings. To their horror it was helmet from Imperial General, riddled with small holes and badly damaged. 'That is…all that… was left… from Imperial…army that….tried to take…the hill….from us….before you…arrived. Some run… but most…were killed…where they…stood' this time nobody from allied kings have laughed. 'I will take… my… leave now. I suggest… you do… not follow… their… example…' and with that said three soldiers turned around and left toward Alnus.

'This is some joke, it has to be. If Imperial army was defeated before we came here then where are their bodies? Where are the signs of battle?'

'I agree, let us go back and prepare for assault. This insult will not stand!' with saying that sex kings turn around and head back to join their armies, all except Duran and his friend. The two of them stayed behind. Duran examining Imperial General helmet and looking around while his friend stood behind him, waiting to see what will Duran say.

'Marcus… my old friend…'

'Yes Duran?'

'Do you see small craters all around us?' Now that Duran mentioned it Marcus could indeed see a good number of them scattered all around.

'I can, but I overlooked them because they seem to serve no purpose.'

'And this is where you are wrong my friend, I am betting that they are somehow connected to defeat of Imperial army that was here before us' Marcus looks at Duran with shock in his eyes.

'You really think that they got annihilated by these strangers?' Duran slowly stood up, still holding shredded helmet in his hands.

'We will know tomorrow when the messenger I sent to meet with incoming Imperial Army arrives.'

'You have send messenger to meet the incoming Imperials?'

'I did, because my gut tells me that they were never sent in the first place' Marcus eyes widens at the mere thought of what Duran was proposing. He closed his eyes and bowed his head.

'I really hope you are wrong about this old friend.'

'Me too Marcus, me too….'

With that said the last two kings return to their armies, stationed in reserve together with the armies of two more allied kings. Naturally, kings of Alguna and Mudwan gave orders to their armies to march forward. Two more kings from allied nations followed in their wake. Once they were some good few hundred meters in front of them Duran, Marcus and the last two kings marched as well with their armies.

The day was quite sunny and there was no wind or cloud in the sky. The sun was also still rising from the east and giving that allied armies marched from east that gave them advantage as many defenders would be blinded by sunrays. Somewhere half the way between allied kingdoms camp and invaders base on Alnus strange sound could be heard. Medieval troops were staying still in confusion. Duran is looking at the sky, also confused at what he is hearing.

'Sounds like… whistling?'

Next moment, loud explosions engulfed the allied armies that were in front of them. Lightning roar could also be heard striking at the surprised soldiers of the allied armies. It only lasted for a few seconds. But it was enough for a cloud of dust to rise above the battlefield. Duran is confused as the only thing he can hear is pitching sound in his ears. Around him he can see his own troops in panic, many of them fleeing the battlefield. From the cloud of dust he can now see troops from allied kings who first went to fight the enemy. All of their soldiers are running, their number was quite low when compared to the number of troops that should be inside that cloud. Duran gave the hand order for his army to stay in position while went with few of his bodyguards to investigate.

What they saw once the dust clouds cleared up engulfed them in terror. Bodies, limbs and blood were everywhere. Four armies of the allied nations were obliterated, ones who were left alive by sheer luck run from the battlefield.

'Where is the king of Mudwan? Where is the king of Alguna? Where are the kings of Tristran and Obera?' Duran asks out loud. But he already knows the horrifying truth. He orders his men to tell the rest of the army to start collecting bodies, the fighting for today is over. "If you could call it fighting at all" Duran thought before returning to his tent.

Later that day Duran, Marcus and remaining two kings met in their war tent to discuss their next cause of action. Everyone was shaken by what happened earlier today, Duran was able to hide that fact well. But the same could not be said for the rest.

'Marcus, what did the priests said?' Duran asks Marcus a question to break the tensing atmosphere. Marcus still needed few seconds to calm down and start talking.

'They said that never in their lifetime have they witnessed such powerful magic. The soldiers who were at the front are riddled with small holes, and some of them are literally blown apart. The formation in the middle of the army was all blown apart and their libs are scattered all around. Only those who were at the back or at the edges of formations survived. And all of them run away from the battlefield. Their flying units were also hit by the same magical weapons and they were all brought down to the earth.'

'Dear gods. How does the Empire expect us to fight them?' One of the kings said in terror, Duran closed his eyes and entered deep thought.

'From our beginning number of 100.000 soldiers we have fallen to 40.000' Duran started.

'Even less than that old friend as many soldiers are deserting, they are rather choosing to face the penalty of death than our enemy at Alnus.'

'I see… it is a simple logic, they will have more chance as trying to desert the army in the middle of the night then march tomorrow into certain death.'

'Are you suggesting that we run as well?' one of the kings asks Duran.

'Hm…. We now lack numbers to attack them directly, and we also do not have means to siege them. They can replenish their supplies using GATE quite easily while we have to drag them from nearby town of Italica. And that is if they agree to supply us' Duran sighed. 'In addition to that GATE may close tomorrow or may stay opened forever, nobody really knows. I say we wait for Imperial Army to arrive and try again, if we fail again then there is nothing more to do than retreat' everyone present is shocked by Duran' suggestion.

'The famous Lion of Elbe… suggesting retreat…' other king says.

'There is no other option other than just run toward that hill and hope for the best. As much as I am loyal to the Emperor, that loyalty does not include me giving my life meaninglessly. That honor is reserved for soldiers of Imperial Legions, not citizens of Elbe. Including me' Marcus smiled at his resolution while other two kings discussed in private what to do.

Few moments later one of the tent guards entered inside, he stand at attention and saluted his lords 'pardon me my lords but the soldier that was sent yesterday has returned.'

'Already?' Duran cannot hide his curiosity, and neither can others. 'Tell him to enter' tent soldier leaves and few seconds later the same soldier that Duran sent yesterday to meet with Imperial Army returned. Duran already knew the answer, but he now wanted to hear it from the mouths of actual witness.

'My lord, I am sorry to report that no army was dispatched form Sadera' his answer shocked everyone except Duran who cannot hide his disappointment.

'W… what do you mean soldier?'

'The Imperial Army is not coming?'

'My Lords, please. Let him speak' Marcus calmed down two kings. 'Please continue.'

'I started riding late in the night, but I was still able passed mountains before sun rose. I stopped at the inn, located in the first town after you cross the mountain chain. There I meet up with my agents and local merchants going from Capital to ask them about incoming reinforcements. To my surprised nobody was able to confirm me that Imperial Army was on its way to Alnus, merchants that came from the Imperial Capital told me that they neither saw nor hear about any army leaving the city. However…' Duran raised his right eyebrow. 'They did tell me that Imperial Army did pass through their town, about two weeks ago. And its size was big, eight legions in total.'

'Ten Legions? That's almost half entire Imperial military forces.'

'And with the two Legions that went through the GATE when it opened that is exactly half of Empire military force destroyed' Duran concluded.

'You believe the report of this soldier?' one of the kings asks.

'I do, he is third generation serving in my army. And his family has a long and proud tradition of growing up fine and honorable men who serve their nation with all they got. On top of that he is also reporting what my agents in the Empire saw as well. There is no doubt that he is telling the truth' the king who asked the question backed off, he could see cold determination in Duran's old eyes. There was no doubt that a man was prepared to defend the word of his soldier even with the use of his sword.

'Thank you my Lord!'

'You can go now, and good job you did today. Once we return home you will get an month of leave.'

'You honor me my Lord' soldier saluted and left the tent. The four kings have no comments for what they just heard.

'If they knew that we would stand no chance why ask us to fight them, why lie to us about their army already being annihilated before we arrived?' The other king asks the questions, but Marcus could already see that Duran was aware of the entire situation - no matter how impossible it seemed to all of them.

'The Emperor is not a fool king Brexol, by losing half of their army to unknown enemy he also saw potential in every one of us to gather our armies and aim them at Sadera. So the best strategy he could do at the time is to send us to halt the enemy by bleeding us to death. He would get time to rebuild his lost Legions and have would also ensure security of the Empire, and his own throne, by ridding himself of potential rebels who could not resist to loot the Capital.'

'What you saying sound quite unbelievable….' King Brexol started.

'And yet all evidence point to that, wound's you agree King Axel?' Duran interrupts him in mid-sentence and asks the king standing beside Brexol.

'I agree, everything points to us being betrayed by the Empire' Axel then turns to face Brexol and starts comforting him privately.

'So, with that settled what should be our next course of action?' Marcus asks, Duran closed his eyes and enters deep thought again, sighing as he thinks way out of this situation.

'There is only one true way out of this situation Marcus, we should try talking to invaders again.'

'You think they will talk to us after what happened today?'

'Well we can always try, under the banner of the white flag. If not, there is always the option of dying gloriously in battle' Duran stated so and the other three kings agreed with his strategy. Tomorrow they will try to talk with the enemy again.

The morning came and four remaining kings gathered what remained of their armies in formation, in the same place where other four kings started marching toward Alnus Hill yesterday. This time there was no optimism or hunger for glory, everybody knew that if this does not succeeded many of them could end up dead by the end of the day.

'Marcus, how many men do we have in our ranks?'

'Only around 32.000 soldiers', many have decided to desert last night. And honestly old friend, after witnessing that slaughter yesterday I cannot blame them.'

'Let's just hope I can at least bring what's left back to their homes and families. Let's go' Duran and Marcus started riding forward with their bodyguards, white flag waving high above them. Kings Axel, Brexol and the rest of the army remained behind, hoping for the best outcome.

'You know old friend' Marcus started to talk, his own way of relieving stress before battle 'I still find it very hard to believe that Emperor Molt betrayed us.'

'It's really just simple politics Marcus' Duran sighed. He is clearly irritated by his friend shortsighted views. 'Molt acted very predictably for an old and soulless politician. Send your allies to face new threat while you lick your wounds. That way you will kill two flies with one strike: delay the invaders long enough to regroup and eliminate any potential rising threat to the Empire. The one thing that impressed me is how he was able to hide the news of Imperial defeat at Alnus Hill before he decided to request our aid. It seems we underestimated Imperial agents, we will need to be more careful in the future old friend.'

'Indeed we must, but do tell me: what happens if we leave the battlefield and return to our homes today?'

'Hm…. I guess we will be labeled as traitors to the Empire. But that's about it. They currently lack any military power to be any real threat to us. Plus our two kingdoms are south of Alnus Hill, if they really decide to send their Legions at us they must pass the invaders first.'

'And these invaders, do you think that they will become the new Empire in these lands?'

'Let us first see if we will survive the next few minutes, it will be very easy to follow the events that will happen afterwards' two Kings ride until the exact spot where they have talked to the invader's emissary. Now they just had to wait and see it they will respond in kind.

'The suspense is killing me Duran, when do you think we will receive an answer?' Several minutes have passed since Marcus and Duran stopped and started to await some kind of answer form invaders. There were still alive, which was a good thing. But the fact that there was no response at all from the invaders is slowly getting on their nerves.

'Just be patient, I am sure that they will answer us in some manner very soon.'

'Look my Lord!' one of the bodyguards pointed toward Alnus. There was something heading toward them from the hill, something that was leaving a cloud of smoke behind it.

'Duran, what do you think that is?' Marcus asks, amazed by what he is seeing.

'I don't know, looks like a metal chariot. But it moves without the horses, how is that even possible?' Metal chariot moved toward them in high speed, it took it mere seconds to reach them. Once it got some ten meters form them it stopped, Marcus and Duran also noticed strange noise coming from it. Doors to the right side of the chariot opened and two men wearing same uniform from yesterday exit. The only difference is that men who came out from the front wear no helmet, looked older than the ones yesterday and had some strange symbols on his shoulders as well as medals on his right chest area.

"This seems to be the commander, what luck" Duran thought as he mounted down and together with Marcus head to greet the two invaders that exited their metal chariot. Their bodyguards remained behind as well as metal chariot. The four men meet head to head with Duran facing supposed commander while Marcus faced the soldier who was guarding him.

'I don't know if you can understand me…' Duran started speaking.

'It's alright, I can understand you perfectly so speak freely' the commander answered, Duran cannot hide his surprise.

'You…understand Imperial language?'

'It is not that hard for me as I…. already know the language that…Imperial language is based upon. I may be….struggling here and there but…. I do understand most of it.'

'I see… In that case, allow me to introduce myself. I am Duran, King of Elbe Kingdom located just south of Alnus Hill. I am representative of the eight allied kingdom army. Or what's left of it' Marcus noted that enemy commander is listening to Duran very carefully and analyzing his every word. But he cannot decide is it to better understand Imperial language or to better understanding the situation behind all of this.

'My name is Alexei Kostadinov, commander of the Red Army "New World front" group.'

'Red Army?' Marcus asks as he never heard about army calling itself like that.

'That is the name of our country military force. Now tell me king Duran, why did you summon me here under the white flag banner?'

'I called you here to inform you that what's left of our remaining armies will back off and return to our homelands. We do not wish to further engage in combat against your forces' the moment of truth has arrived. Both Duran and Marcus knew that if this commander Alexei demands their surrender to him they will have no choice but to comply and become prisoners of war. In that case their plan is to draw their swords and try to fight their way out, even if it means their death.

'I see… Well I have no problem with that. You can leave if you wish. But if you… decide to fight against us in the future… we will have no problem of gunning you… down just like we did the last few armies sent against us' Duran and Marcus are surprised by his answer.

'I…I…I am little lost for words. You are very generous men Alexei' Duran gave his thanks.'

'Can I ask you one thing king Duran?'

'Of course' Duran is caught in the moment, he didn't expected there will be more to what was already been told.

'Tell me honestly, why you came… to tell me that you are breaking your assault… on our forces? Is it because you… are scared of our power, or… is it because Empire betrayed you….in some manner?' Duran is surprised again, this men clearly knows the background happenings. "Does he have spies among Imperials and his own forces?" Duran thought before answering.

'The Emperor ordered us to engage and push you back with the help of incoming Imperial Army. Last night we found out that the promised aid was not on its way as well as that your forces already destroyed eight Legions sent to drive you back through the GATE. Only one conclusion could be made from all of that…'

'…the Emperor wanted you destroyed so that… he could eliminate potential… threats to his throne. '

'Exactly' Duran is impressed again. This guy surely knows how game of politics is played. Duran is also glad that they came to mutual understanding, he could lie to him but the implications made truth the more logical choice of action. After all, these men could very easily overthrow the Empire and establish their own rule. In that case it is for the best if they establish good relations from the start. 'Because we were betrayed by the Empire we do not own our allegiance to the Emperor anymore. So if you allow it we will start our march home immediately and leave you be' now they await crucial answer from Alexei, the one that will set them free.

'I approve. It is time to end this meaningless bloodshed' Alexei offered his arm. Duran accepted it and the two shake hands. 'I wish you safe trip to your home and that we meet on peaceful terms next time.'

'Likewise commander Alexei' with that said Duran and Marcus turned around and head toward their bodyguards.

'One more thing' Alexei spoke, two kings turned around to hear what he has to say. 'If it's not a problem, leave parchments for us containing information about your kingdoms and how to reach them. We will be sending our diplomatic mission soon and having information about your home will aid us greatly' a very strange request, but understandable one.

'Consider it done commander, the parchments will be left in a chest where our war camp was. Until we meet again' Duran and Marcus greeted Alexei before returning to their bodyguards. Their armies received the news with joy, and as soon as parchments were done and left in the chest at the place of their former war camp the remaining allied armies started their long marches toward their homes.

Marcus and Duran were marching together. Their kingdoms are bordering each other after all. They are discussing what transparent at Alnus today.

'That was very strange move that he made.'

'Hm… and why do you think that Marcus?'

'Well usually when you have enemy army at your mercy you either annihilate it or you enslave it. Letting it go is just….'

'Unbelievable?' Duran noted.

'Yes, quite unbelievable.'

'Sigh… sometimes you are really dense old friend, but because you are good and naïve you have much better soul than the rest of us, it is why your own citizens love you more than my own citizens love me.'

'He he… I am honored with your words but I also think that they are also somehow insulting' Duran hit Marcus in his left shoulder and laughed. 'Hey!'

'Just kidding old friend… But you are right, these men are strangers and their ways of living and waging war are probably different than our own. You might think that he is naïve but by allowing us to leave he paved a path to much easier victory for him in the long run.'

'How so?'

'Take the Empire for example, who conquers and kills anyone who stands in their way. They are very powerful and they are using that power as much as they can against others. And take this new force that has much greater power than the Empire but actually spares entire army and let it go home without any harm. Now tell me old friend, who of those two are going to win the hearts of people?' Marcus eyes widens as he finally realized the true motive behind all of this.

'Don't tell me….'

'Indeed, by letting us go they not only shown that they are honorable and merciful men – but they have also shown that unlike the Empire they are open to negotiations. And if they play their cards right they will essentially turn Empire own citizens against them. '

'You really think that Empire has no chance Duran?'

'I do not know Marcus, only time will tell us. And it will be very interesting to watch how it all ends' two kings continued to talk late into the night as they lead their armies home.

Back in the main Soviet base Alexei gathered his subordinates and issued them new orders.

'We will start construction of our base of operations now. It will be massive to store everything we will take from Moscow. I want troops barracks, machine shops and airfield constructed as fast as possible. Expand our perimeter as long as you think it will be safe. Construct watch outposts on nearby hills and place several Tunguska's on constant watch, just in case our friends from the Empire decide to conduct an air raid against us. Nikolai, did you want to ask me something?' Alexei can see that one of his lieutenants, Nikolai Kovlov from armored brigade, is acting a bit nervous.

'Can I speak freely comrade general?' Alexei nodded to show his permission. 'Tell me why did you left the enemy go home? Wouldn't it be just easier to eradicate them then and there? What if we have to fight them in the future?'

'Lieutenant….' One other staff member started to talk, his voice clearly showing how much is he irritated by lieutenant's questions.

'I apologize comrade colonel. I didn't mean to question the general's decision, I am just curious at why did we undertake that sort of action' young lieutenant got scared from colonel's look.

'Easy now Pavel, there is no need to rise tensions here. After all we are all comrades in arms, are we not?' Alexei spoke to ease the tension caused by young lieutenant, once he saw that tension was dropping he continued. 'Comrade Lieutenant, you are right about eradicating our enemy today. We could kill every last one of them without breaking a sweat, but that is not why we are here.'

'It's not?'

'No, we are here to explore this new world and establish diplomatic relations with people living in these parts. So killing an entire army who didn't want to fight us anymore would send a negative message to everyone. By letting them leave today we possibly acquired two new allies in the future, and who know when will they help us and how.'

'I understand comrade general' young lieutenant nodded, and while Alexei was pleased with that he could not help but release a sigh.

'Listen comrades, I am aware that my choice of approach may seem strange to you. But if we are going to form diplomatic relations here and win people's hearts we will not do it by entering every single major town with tanks. You could all see how these methods served us in Eastern Europe and Afghanistan. And we are also not the Yankies who deliberately put down democratically selected governments of various just because it suits them' he looked at everyone present in the room to make sure that everyone is listening him with full attention. 'This is the new world, and because of that it requires a new approach. Many of you here know that I was selected to lead this expedition because of my unorthodox ways, if the GATE incident never happened I would be in pension right now and having my own shop. So in the end, we will try to negotiate and use diplomacy as much as we can, use of force is permitted only when it is necessary. Understand?'

'We understand comrade general!' all of the staff members saluted Alexei. He smiled.

'Good to hear. Now… one more thing I need to tell you before this meeting is over. As you know we will be sending expeditions once most of the base is built, these expeditions will make first contact with people living in the region and establish our first diplomatic relations. What I wanted you to know is that I will be joining one of these expeditions as well' the staff members in the room are quite surprised by their general's announcement.

'Comrade General, you know very well what protocol says about commanding officer leaving his base of operations.'

'I know that very well Pavel' Alexei proceeded to hug Pavel. 'And this is exactly why you are going to keep watch over base and take care of everything until I return from the expedition.'

'I should have guessed…' Pavel could not hide his disappointment. He knows too well the bureaucratic nightmare of managing military base.

'In addition to the one I will be joining we will send three more to nearby villages and establish first contact with the locals. After all, we only have that much translators.'

'Ugh…comrade general, I thought we only have 3 translators so far?'

'General is the fourth one Nikolai, he is by far the best one' Nikolai looks at Sergei, clearly confused.

'How exactly…'

'It's very easy major. The Imperials who live here are definitely the ancestors of ancient Romans from our world. Their language has roots in Roman Latin, which I know perfectly from university.'

'Didn't you graduate from mathematics comrade general?'

'Yes Nikolai, I also graduated from history as well. It was my hobby so naturally I started listening to history mere months I finished with mathematics.'

'I see, thank you comrade general.'

'So as I was saying…. While it has roots in Roman Latin the language evolved in time until it became new language. But because of the roots I am able to communicate with approximately high levels of understanding. It also helps that these Imperials were quite orthodox people as little has change in the core language. About 80% of all words are the same, which helps us greatly.'

The staff members all nodded in their acknowledgement of general's decision to go. It was not standard procedure but then again Alexei was not standard type of commander. They somewhat knew it from the start as with all the elite brigades from the USSR his own brigade from Afghanistan also came with him. It was only natural for a leader to go on field with men from his brigade.

'Alright everyone, now when that is settled let us look over some details regarding our strategy here…' the general agreement was for expeditions to start rolling out in a week, the rest of the conversation that lasted until dawn was about strategies they would use and deployment of brigades that would aid the expedition unit that was in trouble in mere minutes.

In the Imperial Capital, Emperor Molt is furious to learn the latest news from Alnus. His aide, Count Marcus, is informing him about current development. And Emperor's reaction is all but present.

'So you are saying that good 40.000 men actually left the battle and returned to their kingdoms?'

'It's actually less than that as they have a lot of desertion within their ranks, but fact is that four kings decided to break off the attack on Alnus Hill and return to their homes. From what we gathered it is because they made a deal with the invaders, not coming to their side but at least reaching a mutual agreement of non-attacking each other' Molt cannot believe his words, this new enemy is quite cunning. But at least most of his plan is executed as he had imagined it. The kings who had strong enough armies to endanger the Empire are dead, the rest are just too small and weak to oppose them.

'Thank you for your report Marcus, anything else you wish to tell me?'

'Regarding the enemy, for now it seems that they are entrenching themselves in the area. They have placed watchtowers in the nearby hills and they are building large fortifications around Alnus. It is only a matter of time before they head out of there.'

'And that will serve us as well. We just got our time to rebuild. How goes the recruitment of new Legions?'

'So far so good your highness, the new influx of recruits is above average as many believed our warnings about the invaders. Many wish to join us to protect their homes. Our commander's report that they will bring back our military might to its pre-invasion state in a few months.'

'Excellent' Just as Molt congratulated his aide the throne room door opened. A redhead female in knightly armor entered the room. She bowed before the Emperor.

'My Lord, I have answered your summons' her voice may be girlish but it is full of determination and strength. She is ever ready to prove herself and earn the Emperor's favor.

'Pina, I am glad that you have answered my summons. I have a mission for you and your knight order.'

'A mission father?' her eyes are full of hope, this is the one chance she has been waiting for ever since her knight order was founded.

'You are to take your knights and gather information about the invaders. Gather intelligence by spying on their outposts and talking to the local population around Alnus region.'

'You will not give us order to attack them?'

'Hmmm…. Are your knights-wanna-be really able of fighting? I thought they are only good for parades and tea parties?' her father's answer deeply angered her. She is fighting her wrath as best as she can. Emperor Molt is even smiling, only adding salt to the wound. 'But if you insist that your order is capable of something more than this is your chance to prove it. Go now Pina, and return with some good news' Emperor Molt send her away and continued his discussion with Count Marcus.

Pina left the throne room very angry, her own aid is concerned as seeing her like that.

'Princess Pina, what happened?'

'Nothing big Hamilton, we were given the order of gathering intelligence on the enemy' Hamilton sighed.

'I see, this is why you are frustrated. But don't be mad, I am sure the Emperor will acknowledge our order when we prove ourselves in our mission' Pina calmed down but she is still frustrated how the Emperor treats her order. So what if members are mostly made out of females from high ranking houses? That does not mean they cannot fight. She is determined to show him just how wrong he is. She is going to gather all information she can about the invaders and if need be, put them down for good. If that is what will take for her father to acknowledge them, so be it.


	3. Fire Dragon I

Alexei joined his group as soon as he had given all the instructions to Pavel. The base has grown a lot in a week they have begun serious construction. More troops, tanks and equipment were brought through the GATE. First six MiG 29's and four Mi-24's arrived as well. Both armed with state-of-the-art equipment and armaments. The plan was to have MiG's and Mil's ready to deploy in mere seconds if some of the expedition teams was under any kind of assault, as everything else they had was simply too slow to react as fast as they needed.

Each expedition has one UAZ for the commanding officer, one UAZ for medical purposes, two KrAZ heavy trucks for infantry transportation and one of the new BMP-3 vehicles. Alexei also required for each expedition to stock extra ammunition and several RPG launchers just in case things start to go downhill. Four expedition teams in total were created, each with task to explore one of the nearby areas and establish contact with the locals. Alexei himself lead Expedition number 3 who set themselves to establish contact with the nearest village, located just south of Alnus Hill.

A new day was starting in Coda Village. People were slowly starting their jobs for the day while kids head outside village to start playing. It seemed like the start of another ordinary day. Outside the village several kids were playing with their ball, they divided themselves in two teams and play aggressively. In one moment one of the kids kicked the ball too hard and sent it flying to nearby tree line.

'You dummy, I told you not to kick it so hard' one of the girls who were playing with them expressed her displeasure.

'I am sorry, everyone wait until I get the ball' he rushed toward the tree line while the rest decided to either sit down and take a break or talk between themselves. Boy reaches the edge of the tree line only to be surprised by something coming out from it. It is a woman, but dressed in armor he never saw before. She is holding his ball in her left hand.

'Is this yours?' she asks him but the boy cannot understand her. He is just standing there, confused.

'Natasha!' Another men dressed in same strange armor came out from the tree line as well. 'Sorry little one, my friend here didn't learn… your language well enough yet. Tell me…. Are you from this… village?' The boy just nodded. 'Good, can you… take us to your… village chief?' The boy nodded again and run to his friends. 'Natasha…'

'Yes Comrade General?'

'You don't need to be so formal with me.'

'I understand…Alexei…' the female medic nods.

'Good' Alexei gave hand signal to the rest of the soldiers. Five of them emerged from the forest and gathered around Alexei. 'Listen very carefully, this is our first contact with the locals and I want it to be successful. So keep your damn fingers from triggers, you can interact with them if you wish but be on alert. We do not know what dangers lurk in these lands so better to be safe than sorry.'

'Understood Comrade General!' all of them shout in the same time, Alexei nodded and led them to the village. In the village itself their arrival made quite the impact on locals, everyone left their daily jobs and gathered in the village center to see the new arrivals. The crowd gathered around soldiers and it made them a little nervous, they could see that there is not ill intention among them. They were just curious, but it still didn't make them feel any better. From the crowd one elderly men approach Alexei, he is men in his sixties, wearing old and weary clothing and a silly hat. But Alexei could see the year of experience in his eyes as well as honestly shining proudly from them. "This must be village chieftain" he thought.

'Greetings, I am chieftain of Coda Village. I wish you welcome here stranger.'

'And I am Alexei Kostadinov, commander of the forces stationed on Alnus Hill.'

'You are the ones who came through the GATE and defeat the Imperial Army?'

'The same' Alexei can see that the village elder became very nervous. He is scared of what might these new "guests" do to him and people of his village.

'Tell me, what do you want? Why did you come here?'

'Relax old men, we didn't come here to harm you. We came here for two things: establishing diplomatic relations and... trading' village chief is quite surprised by his answer.

'Trading? Exactly what do you want to trade?'

'Whatever is available for trade, we can also trade information: details about nearby cities and Empire in general for our knowledge in certain areas like... agriculture or how to build stronger houses.'

'Hm…' village chieftain thought for a second. 'Why don't we sit down and talk about it, do you want something to drink and eat as well?'

'We would be honored, just please nothing alcoholic. We are on duty after all.'

'Of course, right this way' village chieftain showed Alexei place at the village center where several of the logs where put in circle around camp fire. This is probably where they are holding important talks in public. Alexei sit down with chief elder and initiated talks, soldiers can see that both of them are smiling. They also lowered down their guard once they finally realized that there are definitely no threats in this village. Some of them even tried to talk to the locals, but their language skills being rather poor they could only manage few hand gestures at best.

Medic girl Natasha seems to have the best time beside commander as she is surrounded by kids who cannot help but being amazed by her, especially the girls.

'Well would you look at miss popular girl right there' one of the solders throws her gesture with a smile.

'What can I say, children have always loved me. It's not something that you can say Sergei' she returned the gesture with ironic smile of her own.

'Gaaah…. Like I care…' Sergei waved his hand at Natasha. The locals were getting more and more interested in strange men who visit them. Natasha gave some of her equipment to the kids to play, one boy is very happy to wear her helmet.

Others are having hard time to keep the local from touching their weapons. But it seems that villagers are peaceful and may be willing to trade with them. After all, they realized that these simple peasants never saw someone like them before. So being curious was only natural behavior, to them it was nice to once go into a village where they were nit greeted with either hostility or fear. Some of the villagers even brought some food and water to trade, soldiers accepting it gladly and giving them their rations and chocolate in return.

'Comrade Sergeant. Is it really ok to give them our rations?' one of the soldiers asks.

'It is, the general said to bring extra ration in the truck in case of food trade.'

'I see comrade sergeant' the soldier proceeded into giving his chocolate bar to one of the kids. He could see how happy the child is as he tasted chocolate for the first time in his life. 'I am glad that we are able to bring some happiness into their lives.'

'I agree kid, it seems that this Empire and its Lords never cared about the people under their rule. Just like western capitalists in our own world.'

'But comrade sergeant, didn't general said something about "not everything is at it seems, including our western enemies?" Sergeant shot him a cold look, the young private get nervous as he saw into the cold eyes of an old veteran. Sergeant by the name of Vladimir was as old as general Alexei is. But unlike general's nice and baby like face Vladimir's face is extremely weary and with a few scars. Showing of his veteran status hat he earned after prolonged years on the field.

'Did you say something kid?' He asks him. Young recruit caught in the moment at Sergeant Vladimir's deep and sharp voice. Piercing trough your self-confidence and making you listen his every word with utmost attention, all while being still as a rock. Just like any true sergeant voice should be.

'S…sorry comrade sergeant, my mistake….' Recruit turned around to cover in shame but he was unexpectedly patted on his left shoulder.

'Relax kid, I am just joking with you' he turned around to see warm smile on Sergeant Vladimir's face. "So the rumors were true, he is good as he is scary" he thought. 'But this is neither the time nor the place for questions like these. Once we are back at the base I will tell you everything. Is that ok?'

'It is comrade sergeant, thank you' sergeant nodded.

'Tell me your name kid.'

'Private Misha, transferred from the 48'th Guards Tank Division' Vladimir examined him. The kid was not more than 21 years old. He is quite skinny and still shaking from his question earlier.

'Tell me something Misha, what kind of unique skill do you have to be transferred to us?'

'Radio operator comrade sergeant, I am currently one of the very few people who know how to operate the latest generation of infantry field radios.'

'Really?'

'Yes sir comrade sergeant, the new ones that allow us to switch communication between various users. Including out main base and the MiG's in the air.'

'Interesting, but why sent you out? Didn't you say that there are few more people who knew how to operate those?'

'It's because I am the only one who have undergo military training. I was actually close to finishing my tour and go home when they transferred me for special mission' Misha can see that sergeant is sighting. He does not look too happy but he is still smiling.

'I see… carry on kid. It will be nice to have you on the team. Carry on' Vladimir pats him once more on the left shoulder before turning around and going to see how others are doing.

'Of course, thank you comrade sergeant' Misha happily goes back to his interactions with the locals who didn't mind their uneasy conversation from earlier. But they quickly forgot about it as soon as they saw that the strange young soldier was smiling and offering them more food.

Sergeant Vladimir head toward Natasha, the brigade's medic, she is playing with few children who are fascinating to see women in uniform.

'I see that you are having fun as always.'

'You know how much I like being around children.'

'Yeah, I also remember how you almost lost your head when that Taliban kid wanted to stab you in the neck' Natasha stood up and looks at Vladimir. Her crystals like blue eyes are full of frustration and sadness.

'That kid was brainwashed, it was not his fault he tried to kill me.'

'I know, I know… I am sorry… I didn't come to irritate you but to ask you something.'

'Sure comrade sergeant' Natasha calmed down and listens carefully.

'What's with the new kid?' he titled his head to his right, Natasha looks in that direction and see Misha trying to talk to the locals, with little success it seems to her.

'Private Misha Volotov, he was transferred from Ukraine and came into our brigade two days ago. Why do you ask?' Vladimir took few seconds of pause as he was looking at him.

'The kid is too young and this is a dangerous world. Why did the command sent him Why not someone else?'

'It's obvious comrade sergeant, he is one of the few people in the Union who was trained to work with newest radio equipment we received from the west for this mission. There are others but they lack basic military training and there was no time to train other.'

'He said the same thing…' Vladimir stands silent and looks at Misha who is still playing with the kids.

'You worry too much Vladimir, I am sure he will prove himself. After all, you didn't start in the army old and with experience as well' with saying that she returned to playing with kids as well. Sergeant Vladimir though for a moment and smiled before he returned to check other soldiers. Meanwhile, Alexei was able to talk with village chieftain quite a bit and agree in several terms.

'If I understood this right, you are ready to exchange information for information?'

'Yes.'

'You want to trade information about this world and Empire in general for information about how to better farm crops and vegetables?'

'That is correct.'

'Pardon me for saying this but I do not see what you will get from our information. We are just a small village and nothing really interesting happened here for as long as I remember. We are so isolated and out of reach in fact that we were never once raided by bandits.'

'That was your luck then, eh?'

'Indeed it was friend.'

'Even so…' Alexei got closer to village chieftain, his eyes spoke honesty to the village chieftain '…the little information you have here about this world in general is worth in gold to us who are newcomers. When we get to a new area we need to know what to expect, because there is nothing worse than going blindly into the unknown' village chieftain is listening very carefully to Alexei. 'So, the way I see it, teaching you improved technics of farming is indeed small price to pay for the information you can give us about this world. What do you say?'

Village chieftain thought for a moment, he is looking right into Alexei's eyes 'There is something about you that I like, it may be your honesty or your good spirit. But when you put it like that there is no reason for me to object to your offering'. He offered his hand to Alexei, he accepted it and they shake hands.

'Thank you very much, I will send experts for farming in this village as soon as I return to our base.'

'And I will order our librarian to get as many books as you could have. One more thing friend…'

'Go on.'

'You should go and check elf village in the forest east of here, just travel through road that follows the river until you reach the edge of the forest. Once you enter the village should be close by.'

'Hm… I think we will check it up. Thanks for your advice' Alexei shake the village chief's hand one more time before turning around and meeting with Vladimir.

'Comrade Sergeant!' Vladimir saluted. 'Get one truck and follow my jeep. We are going to visit another village.'

'What about the rest of the column?' Alexei looks around.

'I think it will be safe for the men to trade with the villagers. But tell them that they can only do that with Abram. We don't want to cause an incident with any of the villagers because of language barriers.'

'Yes Comrade General!'

'Good, I am leaving you in charge of our men here. See you in few hours' Alexei greeted Vladimir before proceeding to gather the rest of his men from the village. Vladimir called the rest of the group via radio and two more trucks full of troops arrived. With them is Abram, the official Red Army translator who got better at his job since the last time he was needed at Alnus Hill battle. Many of the villagers gathered their unique things and charms to trade with the Soviets while at the same time soldiers readied official clothing and gifts from each of their nation state. Vodka was given as a gift at no cost. Each soldier carried one alongside with two or three small glasses.

Alexei entered his jeep with Misha and Natasha while the rest of his men entered one of the KrAZ trucks. Their destination was elven village at the edge of the nearby forest. Alexei is excited. It will be first time for a human to establish relations with non-humans after all. Something he dreamed as a kid when he wanted to be cosmonaut. Alexei is not hiding his smile as he thought about that, something that others noticed all too well.

'So… Comrade General…' Alexei turned around to see who is calling him. He recognized young radio operator.

'Yes Misha, is there something you want to ask?'

'Yes, uh…I mean….' Alexei can see that a young man is struggling to ask. He throws a quick glance to Natasha who is sitting behind him. She just smiled, enough for Alexei to take notice.

'Listen comrade…. Misha was it?'

'Y…Yes comrade general!'

'You are part of brigade now, we are all comrades here. And as far as I am concerned there should be no secrets between us. So if you have something to ask go ahead, I will not get mad and neither will you be punished; Misha could see entirety in his commander face. He also sees Natasha smile. He took time to calm his breathing as well as his nerves.

'I heard some rumors about you comrade general while I was still stationed in Ukraine, rumors I would not want to believe.'

'Oh? And what kind of rumors did you hear Misha?'

'There were many of them…' Alexei raised his right eyebrow at the mention of that. 'The most prominent ones I heard were that you are western spy, an enemy of the state, that you want to overthrow Premier Gorbachev and seize power, that you are working with our enemies from eastern bloc countries to break USSR from inside, how you want to introduce Islam in the Union, how you want to abolish the teachings of Marx and many others…' Natasha and Alexei listened to him carefully as he was speaking all the rumors he heard about his new commanding officer.

'Hm… I think that Islam one is the new one, is that correct?'

'It is Natasha, obviously I have grown beard and became Mohammed in meantime' both Natasha and Alexei are laughing and making jokes on the rumors they just heard. Misha is looking at them with confusing, for such serious rumors they act pretty calmly.

'And now to answer your question young one' Natasha started talking to Misha. 'First, if Alexei was enemy of the state as rumors said the KGB would kill him in a matter of hours. Same goes for consorting with western powers and our enemies within our allied countries. Secondly, if only one of these rumors were true you think that Alexei would hold a position of brigadier general and be given this position in new world at all?

'Of course not comrade, I did not believe them for a moment as well. But I am curious why would such a rumors exist in the first place? Especially because you are decorated war veteran comrade general, your exploits in Afghanistan being extraordinary and heroic' Misha can see that he asked hard question to his commander. Alexei is reluctant to answer and he sighs, turning around and watching at the road in front of them. 'I am sorry comrade general, my mis…'

'It's because the head Union generals and marshals hate me.'

'They hate you?' Misha asks.

'Yes, they hate me as ignorant and backstabbing people they are' Misha is looking at Alexei, confused at his general's newest revelation.

'You see Misha,' Natasha started talking 'unlike generals and Marshals of the Soviet Union Alexei here actually has finished university.'

'You have University degree comrade general?'

'I am an engineer for electrical science. Computers, machines and thing like that' Alexei turned around to answer Misha, he can see in his eyes that they young kid is becoming more and more fascinated with him.

'And because of that the Union generals look at comrade Alexei here with envy, as most of them barely have high school diplomas' Natasha continued. 'Furthermore, because of his intellectual background comrade general was able to establish somewhat peaceful relations with western generals he encountered much easier than any other officer of his rank. And because of his unorthodox methods he was able to achieve results at much lower cost to men and recourses during his missions in Afghanistan. With such high rate of success and respect among foreigners you can see why they would hate him.'

'I am sorry comrade general, I didn't know…' Misha started to apologize but he was cu t by Alexei.

'It's ok kid, I am not trying to advertise myself anyway. I am fine as I am' car driver and Natasha both smiled, they seem glad to have such modest men for their commander.

'In that case I have one more question comrade general', Misha took a moment of pause to swallow his saliva. 'You have finished Moscow University. With that you could work anywhere you wanted in the Union. Be a top grade engineer or even a director of the scientific facility if your political connections are that strong.'

'They are kid, there is no doubt about that' the car driver replied.

'I see… then my question is why you have joined the military comrade general if you had a chance to enjoy good life at some high ranking position in some government scientific facility?' Alexei didn't answer immediately. He once again turned around and watched the road ahead.

'The point is comrade Misha, I thought back then that I could do much more good if I am in the military then sitting at random desk in some comfy office. After all, in combat I would have a chance to save someone's life. And if I get a hold of a command position then that chance would increase for three if not ten times' there was a pause. 'At least that's what I thought back then.'

'What about now comrade general?'

'Hmmmm…' Alexei took a moment to think, Misha saw grimace he was making with his face. He did not expect his commanding officer to be so relaxed and level headed. 'If you ask me was that good or bad decision then I would have no answer to give. But you can say that so far I am satisfied with the results of my decision.'

'I see, thank you comrade general…' Misha smiles and stop asking any more questions. Natasha can see that he is somewhat gad to have commander such as Alexei, she thought how Misha probably didn't have the best time during his service in Ukraine. But she is hoping that will change while he serves in their battalion.

'Bu the way Sergei, how much until we reach that village?' Alexei asks the car driver, a man in his early forties and very serious stance. Despite his baby face and seemly gentle aura that surrounds him.

'I can already see the start of the tree lines. Not much longer, about ten more minutes.'

'Good, I have a feeling like we are driving forever.'

'It's because of the countryside Alexei' Natasha commented as she looks through the window', this entire area is like one big plain. Nothing but fertile ground for kilometers around us, reminds me of great plain of Ukraine or Siberia.'

'Yeah, only without our modern mechanization to contaminate it' Misha is surprised by Alexei's response.

'Comrade General, you disapprove the use of the machines?'

'Of course not Misha, I am just complaining about how much we contaminated our own land before we implemented safety regulations to actually lower it. The damage has already been done on our side. Hopefully it will be different here.'

'Alexei, I can see smoke coming from the edge of the forest' Sergei suddenly said.

'Smoke?' Alexei asked and then look in front of him. He could see the smoke coming from the forest edge as well. 'A forest fire… Pull the jeep over Sergei. We are getting out.'

Sergei stopped at the side of the road, the troop truck behind them followed. The troops inside the truck got out and formed behind Alexei who took out his binoculars and pointed them at the smoke.

'What can you see?' Sergei asks.

'It's a forest fire alright, if we can hurry… what the!' Sergei turned his attention toward the smoke. He can see something flying over it, it stood still for few seconds before it vanished behind tree lines.

'What did I just saw?' Sergei asks, Alexei is slowly taking down his binocular.

'A dragon Sergei.'

'A what?'

'A dragon, the one you can see Saint George killing with his spear. Only this one seems few times bigger than the one on the picture.'

'Great, just great…' Sergei gets his AK on standby.

'Sergei get in the jeep and drive as fast as you can, I have a bad feeling about this' Sergei nodded to Alexei's order and started the jeep. Sergei was driving as fast as he could, all the time watching the quality of the road and the distance between them and KrAZ that was following them.

Five minutes later they crossed the river at the nearby bridge they found and followed the road that leads into the woods. Rain started falling before they arrived, it was not strong but they had to lower down their speed to make sure no accident happen while they were on the way. As they get closer to the village the stench of burning wood became stronger.

'It is as I feared….' Alexei said just as they were entering the village. Or what was left of it. All around them they can see death and destruction. The big dragon Alexei saw attacked the village and raised it to the ground. Alexei ordered everyone to get out and scout the perimeter. Several soldiers vomited at the sight of burned corpses of elves that tried desperately to defend their home. Misha also vomited when he saw burned corpse of what seems to be mother holding her child in her arms.

'Are you alright Misha?' Natasha offered him some medications and held him so that he would not fall to the ground.

'This is as bad as that Afghan village' Sergei said to Alexei as he looked around. Alexei feels remorse and sadness as he discover more and more burned corpses on the ground.

'Yeah, at least animal kills because it is animal. They do not care what you think or if you are true believer in God' Sergei turned to face Alexei.

'Comrade General, permission to pray for their souls?' Alexei stopped and thought for a moment and then he nodded.

'Permission granted Sergei, just don't take it too long' Sergei nodded and knelled on the ground. He put his helmet down and his AK on the side, with his right hand he grabbed the cross that was around his neck and started praying. Misha got a little better and noticed that Sergei is doing something strange.

'Comrade Natasha, what is he doing?'

'Oh… he is praying to the God for everyone who died here to be accepted to heaven' Misha is surprised by her answer.

'Comrade Sergei is religious?'

'He is, and the commander allows open preach of religion in our battalion. If you have problem with that…'

'I don't. It is just strange to see such openness toward religion. Especially in the army' Natasha can see that Misha is fascinated, he watch Sergei as he is silently chanting his prayer.

'Once we get back I will tell you everything you wish to know, until then we have a duty to do comrade. Do you understand?' Misha can see that Natasha is very serious. Her eyes are glaring with it, filling him with fear and respect.

'I understand comrade' Misha nodded and saluted. She pats him on his right shoulder and leave to see what Alexei is doing. She found him sitting on the well, looking at the death and destruction around him. He is looking as his men are making noted what they have found and where. Some of them have started digging holes to bury the dead.

'What a tragic waste of life' he said as he noticed Natasha getting near him. 'Tell me, how much do you think have died?' Natasha looks around to try imagining the size of the village and the possible number of people living in it.

'Well, based on the size of the village and number of corpses so far the lowest estimate would be around fifty. But we might never know the true number, some are turned entirely to ask and it was very difficult to differentiate them from surrounding debris.'

'You know what pains me the most? Even if we were present here I have no idea if we would have been able to assists. Fighting humans is one thing, hell even other races are not such a problem. But fighting dragons on the other hand… ' Natasha sits near him and remove her helmet as well.

'I am sure that our anti-air missiles and MiG's can make a short work out of these beasts.'

'I have no doubt about that, the problem is timing. I cannot have plains constantly in the air around us. That would require a lot of fuel and a ton of maintenance. And AA batteries we have at our base are all heavy and slow. We don't know if the smaller ones we carry with us would help at all. We took it for those small flying dragons that Imperials used. This thing is much bigger than them…' Natasha can see that Alexei is depressed because he was not here to help these people. He always hated not being there when it mattered. She remembers too well his depression in Afghanistan when innocent people died because Mujahidin's outmaneuver them and strike at local populations.

But she also knows that Alexei is military officer, all he needed is reminder of who he is to be brought back to normal.

'Comrade General, we were not able to be here in time to save these people. But what we can do is continue doing our duty and be better prepared in case this dragon returns. And when he does we will avenge these people here' Alexei carefully listened to her and nodded.

'You are right Natasha… Now tell me, are there any survivors?'

'Not that I know off… Andrei!' One of the solders gathering notes rushed toward them.

'Tell me. Were you able to find any survivors?'

'Unfortunately no comrade, this creature did a good job in killing everyone in the village. Our comrades discovered few of the bodies outside the village perimeter. It seems that the beast was not merciful even to those who tried to escape.'

'Damn it… What about the numbers so far?' Natasha asks, soldier take his notes and starts reading them.

'So far we identified little over 100 bodies, mostly adult but there were dozens of children corpses as well. Furthermore…' Alexei thought he had heard something. He ignored the soldier talking with him and Natasha and turned around. The sound has gone, he thought he was just imagining things and he focused his attention once more to the soldier. Only to hear the same strange sound again, but this time it sounded like a voice. He heard it for the third time.

'Can you guys hear that?' he asks Natasha and Andrei while looking around to determine the source of the voice.

'Hear what exactly?' Natasha asks, Alexei raised his hand, she and Andrei fell silent.

'Listen…' they focused on hearing around them as well. Both their eyes widened as they could too hear some strange voice 'can you hear it?'

'Yes, we can' Natasha stood up and continues listening. The voice has become stronger, she and Alexei deducted the same conclusion few moments later.

'The well' both of them said in the same time.

'Ivanov! Get the towing rope from the truck. We are going to use it to save the person stuck at the bottom of the well!' Alexei shouted his order and as soon as they hear it Soviet soldier got to work. The KrAZ got into position and then the soldiers then hook up towing rope and passed its other end to the well, Alexei took the rope and started wrapping it around his waist and fixing it as tightly as he could.

'Comrade General I must protest' Sergei said as he stand near Alexei.

'Your protest has been noted, now go and make sure they do not mess something up' Sergei look at Alexei with displeasure before going to the truck driver. While he is relaying him instructions Alexie checked the rope one last time before starting his decline.

'Be careful comrade general' Alexei saw Misha standing near well.

'I will, thanks Misha. Make sure Natasha prepares herself, who knows how much the one who is stuck down below is hurt.'

'Of course comrade general' Misha saluted and with that said Alexei begun his decent into the well.

He didn't take too much time getting to the bottom of the well. The truck driver lowered him slowly enough so that he could watch his step and be aware of his surroundings. Thus avoid hitting his head on some loose stone. The well is quite dark but Alexei brought flashlight, he could hear voice clearly now. It sounded like a women's voice, but in language other than Imperial. He decided not to say a thing before his touchdown. Very soon his feet were getting wet, shortly afterwards he touched down at the bottom of the well. Water is not very high at the well's bottom. It went up to Alexei's waist.

Alexei could feel someone at his left side and pointed his flashlight, he took care not to point it in the face of said person and blind him. To his surprise that person is a female, even bigger surprise is that she is naked. By the looks of it she looks human enough. Alexei points his flashlight just right of her head. She points her head in opposite direction, allowing Alexei to see her long blonde hair and long pointing ears. Alexei is rather impressed to see elf for the first time in his life, and they are indeed as beautiful as books describe them.

'Sergei! Get the raincoat from the truck and drop it down here!' Alexei shouts orders to Sergei who is leaning on the edge of the well.

'At once!' Alexei can see Sergei's head disappearing from the well entrance, in that moment the elf girl tried to speak something to him in her own language.

'Can you understand Imperial?' Alexei asks her.

'Yes' she replies to him, Alexei smiles.

'Good, tell me are you hurt anywhere?'

'N…no… I am fine… my head hurt a little but I think that nothing is broken.'

'Good' Alexei looks up and see Sergei holding folded raincoat in his arm, he release it and Alexei grabs it with his free left hand. He offers it to the elf girl.

'Dress up un this and then come here' the elf girl grabbed the raincoat and unfolded it. She dressed herself in it and then got near Alexei, he embraces her. 'Embrace me and hold as hard as you can, ok?'

'Ok' she replied. After making sure she embraced him hard enough Alexei shout the order to pull him back up. Once they got up all the soldiers around them got amazed at half naked elder beauty clinging to their commander.

'What? Didn't you guys saw elf girl before? Now scram, you are making her nervous' at his order the rest of the soviet soldiers pulled back and returned to their duties. Alexei called for Natasha to check her up in the backside of the truck where they will have some privacy.

'She looks quite frightened,' Alexei see that Sergei is standing near him 'she may be scarred for life after this event.'

'Aye, at least she is alive. And with time and proper attention all scars can heal. Let's pack up and go back to the village. They need to know what happened here.'

'Understood comrade general' the rest of the Soviet soldiers packed their things, made sure that all the dead that were found were buried and embarked into their transports. They were heading pack at increased pace. Alexei didn't want to lose any time with that flying monster roaming around.

Once they got to the village Alexei asked for immediate conversation with the village chief while Natasha seek Abram to help her with translation. She then head to talk with local medicine men and see how they may assist considering that the girl they saved was an elf, not human. Meanwhile, Alexei explained what happened to village chief, he noticed how his face is frozen is shock as cold sweat started to appear on his forehead.

'A Fire Dragoon returned…'

'Fire Dragon?'

'That's how they are called. They are very rare and we have not heard about one for ages. But once they taste human or elf flesh they will not stop until they destroy every settlement in area they are seen. Out village is not safe, we must evacuate…' village chief run pass Alexei and started giving the order to locals. Villagers started gathering all they could from their homes and put it in their wagons. Alexei just stood there and looked around until Vladimir came together with Sergei and Natasha.

'Your orders Comrade General?' Alexei didn't answer for several more seconds' while he looked around some more, noticing people gathering in hurry to move out.

'These people are defenseless, if the dragon attacks them while they are on the run it will be slaughter.'

'Are you suggesting that we escort them until nearest town?' Sergei asks, Vladimir could not help but show his surprised he is by this suggestion.

'If I may say it Comrade General, our mission is to recon and gather information. Not escort and protect a bunch of refugees.'

'That may be true Comrade Sergeant, but are you suggesting that we leave these people to die?'

'I…' Alexei didn't let him to finish his sentence.

'You were not in that village Vladimir, you didn't saw death and destruction e have seen' he points his hand to one of the family gathering their things and putting them into their wagon. 'Would you be ok if you knew you had the opportunity to help that family survive but choose not to? Do you want that Afghan village incident to happen again?' To his question sergeant had no answer, he just lowered his head and stood there silent. 'I didn't think so. Misha!' At his call the young radio operator rushed to Alexei.

'Yes Comrade General?'

'Radio the HQ, tell them to put four MiG's on nearby patrol, two by two. And I want them armed to the teeth. Also, I want four Mil's to be constantly in our proximity - ready to assist us in seconds if we need backup.'

'Understand Comrade General!'

'The rest of you! Assist the villagers in preparations and then report to your transports! This is now humanitarian escort mission!' Alexei shouted so that every Soviet soldier in the village can hear him. They all nodded and started assisting villagers in packing their things.

'You…you are going to assist us?' village chief rushed back to Alexei. He can barely breathe from exhaustion.

'Yes, I will make sure that your people reach their destination safely.'

'But… we are just simple farmers and workers. We have no money to pay you for protection.'

'Worry not chief, we are soldiers of the Red Army. And as such is it our duty to protect those who are in need of protection. Besides, you already gave us a lot of information regarding this world, I will consider that enough from your side' village chief eyes are filled with joy, he is on the verge of crying.

'Thank you very much Alexei' he bowed to show his appreciation, something Alexei tried to correct almost immediately.

'It's alright… you can thank me properly after your people is safe. For now there is work to do' Alexei then head to the nearest family and helped carrying their belongings, Natasha, Sergei and the rest of soviet soldiers did the same. Except Misha who was constantly talking with Pavel back at the HQ.

Meanwhile, in the local forest elder magician Cato is trying to put as many thing as he can on his wagon, but the sheer number of books he put weight so much that his wheels are stuck in the soft ground.

'Damn it…' he starts to complain.

'I told you that we cannot take that many books master, you will need to select some to leave behind' Cato turns around to see his student carrying few more books in her arms, her short blue hair illuminating in the sun and her young face stoic like she was a statue rather than human being.

'I know that Lelei but I cannot forgive myself if even one book is left behind' he made sinister look with his face. 'But you know, if you use your magic…' Lelei sighed to his proposal.

'Master, you should know better than to teach me something like this. It's misuse of magic you know?' Her master face went sour in a second.

'Come on Lelei, it's not like we have any other choice. Your sister would never complain at such idea that would ease both of our pain' he looks closely at Lelei as she put the books on their place in wagon. 'Plus she is more gifted than you…' Lelei shoot a look toward her master, her blue eyes made him instantly feel uneasy.

'Master, you should know better than talking thing like this. Or do you wish me to demonstrate mu magic in some other way?' Lelei fetched her wand that was tied at her back and point it toward Cato, old magician started to sweat as the wand started glowing.

'Now, now Lelei… you would gain very little from hurting your master.'

'I am aware of that' Lelei said as she pointed wand toward wagon. The entire wagon started to glow and hover over ground. 'I just wanted to see you sweat a little.'

'You little…'

'Should we go? We don't want to let other waiting' Cato sighted, clearly there is no point in arguing with this girl.

'Are you sure you are fifteen years old? Sometimes you scare me a lot' he commented.

'I have no idea what are you talking about master' Lelei declared so without changing her stoic expression, she sit down on the passenger part of the wagon.

'Right….' Cato sits down on driver seat and took reins into his hand. 'Off we go' He twitch them a little and their horses started walking, heading off toward the village center. Once they got into the village they joined caravan of some twenty other wagons. Both of them could not help but notice something strange, there were several unknown vehicles and men dressed in strange clothing helping out the locals.

'Good, you have arrived' Cato saw that village chieftain has arrived to greet them. 'Please get in line behind the last wagon. We are going to head out any minute now.'

'I understand chief, but do tell me' he points toward strange vehicles, 'what are those?'

'Oh that… We had visitors today Cato. They came from Alnus Hill' Cato's eyes widened, Lelei also got some interest now that the name of the famous hill was mentioned.

'You mean from the other side of the GATE? They are the ones who beat half the Empire's Legions?'

'The same, they came this morning and established a trade with us. It was them who reported the sighting of the Fire Dragon. The elf village on the other side of the river is destroyed, only one survivor was left.'

'That is a real shame. I knew many good elves from that village…'Cato 's sad face moved even Lelei who put her left hand on her master's right shoulder.

'As soon as I heard what happened I gave the order to move out, we are going toward Italica. We should be safer there since that city has fortifications.'

'A logical conclusion' Cato moved his attention toward strange soldiers. 'What about them?' He points his hand toward them.

'They offered us protection along the way.'

'They did? But you don't have anything to pay them back.'

'They said it is alright, that they will help us because they are bound by their oath as warriors.'

'Hm….interesting….' Cato noted as he saw soldiers finishing their assistance and heading back to their transports. 'In that case I cannot wait to have a chance to talk with them.'

'I am glad to hear it, sage Cato. Now please go and take your position in the caravan, we are just about to start our travel. See you once we get to Italica, Sage Cato, miss Lelei' village chief said his greetings and rushed toward the head of the column, the magicians take their place behind the last wagon in the line. Both of them noticed soldiers getting into the back of their transportation that were parked not far from them.

'Come on troops, on the double. We don't want to keep the comrade general waiting!' they noticed a single soldiers walking behind the embarking troops, shouting to them to embark faster.

'Seems to be some kind of leader' Lelei note her observing.

'Seems so, but I am more interested in their language. I have heard nothing even remotely close to it.'

'I am sure we will have time to learn it master' in that moment they could hear some strange sound coming from the transports now filled with strange soldiers. 'What is that?'

'I have no idea, Lelei… look…' Sage Cato is amazed as he can see that transports are moving all by themselves. He expected horses to tow them but he was surprised to see that none were present. The transports were moving on their own, forming a line right behind them.

'Master…' Lelei started, but she was lost for words.

'I know Lelei, now I definitely wish to learn more about these strange people' as they argued possible theories on what kind of magic could power their transports both of them could not help but notice that same solder from before standing near their cart and looking at their wheels. Thanks to Lelei's magic they were hovering above ground, it seems to them that soldier was amazed to see this.

He raised his head and look at the tow of them. He made a strange face, nodded twice and head toward the head of the column.

'Do you think that was some gesture in their country master?'

'I have no idea Lelei, I have no idea…'

Alexei is sitting in his jeep at the head of the column, he is reading the reports from Misha.

'So we will have support in mere seconds at any time. Good work Misha.'

'Thank you Comrade General.'

'Alright, is everything ready?'

'It should be, we are just waiting for Vladimir to come by and give us a go signal. Speaking of the devil…' Just as Sergei finished his sentence Vladimir appeared at Alexei's window.

'Comrade General, everything is ready. The transport is ready to go.'

'Excellent Comrade Sergeant, now return back to your truck. We will head out right now.'

'Yes comrade general…' Vladimir hesitated to leave, Alexei noticed that.

'Is there something else you want to tell me?'

'Well comrade general…Alexei… I just saw a hovering wagon. It's at the very end of the column' Alexei raised an eyebrow to that statement, the rest of the people inside jeep are stunned to hear that.

'A hovering wagon?'

'Yes comrade and it is glowing blue' there was few moments of silence.

'Vladimir… did you drink some Vodka while on duty?'

'Yeah… a bottle or two?' Sergei throw additional question to the sergeant.

'I swear that I am not drunk, I am speaking the truth. You have to see this' Alexei could see honesty in his eyes. He knew that Vladimir was too old and proud to joke or imagine thing like this. But there was no time, the caravan was set to go and they could not allow any more holdups.

'I believe you Vladimir, but right now we have more important things to do. I will see it once we have reach the safety of the city. Is that understood?'

'It is comrade general' Vladimir saluted and rushed back to his vehicle at the other end of the column.

'What do you think Alexei?' Natasha asks.

'Well… the only possible thing that comes to mind is magic.'

'Really…Magic?' Sergei is not too convinced in that kind of explanation, Natasha is also having a hard time believing in it.

'Think about this: we are in completely new world. We have only begun to scratch the surface here, who knows what awaits us by the journey's end? Honestly, between dragons and elves I don't think that magic is too much of a pushover to believe in.'

'If you say so Alexei…' Sergei declared so, pushed his transmission into a gear and started driving. The chief said to them they will need at least two days to reach Italica. And the night has begun to fall as well. Pavel was also not amused that they will not be returning as scheduled but said that he will make sure they will get proper support in case of emergency.

Alexei was happy, he was able to achieve successful first contact, to save an elf woman from burning village and now he is escorting an convoy of refuges to safety. In his mindset that is for what the Red Army was founded and what should have been in the first place. He wanted to make sure that at least in this distant land they would be able to shine the brightest, far from politics and restrictions of the old world.

During that night a group of bandits were camping somewhere on the countryside. They have raided local farmstead, killed all the men and raped all the women before killing them as well. Being satisfied with their loot and satisfaction they were planning what to hit next.

'I vote that we raid the local landlord mansion, ever since Alnus Hill battle the Imperial presence here has diminished. I say that we take this entire land for ourselves and become lords as well' rest of the bandits cheered to his proposal.

'I don't know about that. I say we stick to the safer plan and raid next several farmsteads. And then, we use the acquired good to get some serious weapons and armor. And then we strike' this suggestion initiated a soft debate between few of them. A third voice then appeared.

'I suggest that we join the local bandit lord, the rumors say that he is planning something big very soon' that news really interested the rest of the bandits.

'O really? And what would that be?'

'Well, as I head it…' he never get to finish his sentence as the upper part of his head got sliced and flew away. The rest of his body fell down on the ground, revealing dark figure yielding a gigantic axe behind him. The rest of the bandits jumped and readied their weapons, few swords, one bow and several daggers.

'Who are you?' One of them asks, they all got nervous when sinister laugh came as their answer.

'You don't need to know that as you will not be alive for much longer' the shadowy figure got closer to the camp fire, illuminating itself. It was a kid, a small girl. She is clad in gothic black dress and carries an axe that is twice of her size. Her small red eyes and sinister smile sends chill down the spine of every bandit.

'It's Rory Mercury…' one of them said, shivering in fear.

'The Apostle of Emroy…' second one said so and started to run as soon as he finished his sentence, the others followed his example.

'Mercy!' the third one shouted as he run. Little girl just stood there and watched as the bandits ran from her.

'Mercy? Just like you showed mercy to that farmer and his family? Emroy will get few more souls tonight, such is my decree…' a moment later and she disappeared. Few of the bandits saw that and became even more nervous. Then one of them yelled. His body sliced in two by her gigantic axe. The next one briefly saw her appearing her him before his head rolled on the ground. One of the bandits decided to stand his ground and he readied his sword. Rory appeared before him shortly afterwards.

'It seems that not all bandits are cowards.'

'Shut up!' he yells and swings his sword toward her, an attack she easily blocked. Few more attacks followed, Rory saw they were an act of desperation.

'This is bothersome' she said and then proceed to cut the bandits hands, sent them flying together with the sword still in them. The bandit scream, only to fall silent after Rory cut him in half with one swift swing from between his legs up to the tip of his head.

There was only few bandits left alive, and Rory licked his lips before heading out to kill the rest of them. Once the justice has been done she proceeded in digging the graves for the farmer's victims and initiating prayers to Emroy after she buried them. The bodies of bandits have been dismembered and left on the field to rot. Such was a fate of lowlifes and bandits.


	4. Fire Dragon II

It was already around noon and the heat has started to affect Alexei. He is starting to sweat, even if their speed was relatively moderate and all the windows in the jeep were open.

'Damn this heat…' he complained.

'At least it's not like the Afghanistan, poor T-72 drivers could not handle being more than fifteen minutes in the tank' Sergei said, keeping his eye on the road while cleaning his forehead. Like Alexei he is not going through the current heat all too well.

'At least we are lucky enough to be in a jeep rather than a tank' Natasha handles them a pair of towels.

'Don't you need these for your medical equipment?' Alexei asks. Natasha smiles as a response to his question.

'Don't worry. I have more than enough of them in reserve. You can have them to get through this heat wave much easier.'

'In that case, don't mind if I do' Sergei accepted his towel with big relief and started using it on his head that same moment. Alexei smiles and fixes his attention to road ahead while he cleans himself from swat. The road in front of them seems endless, with nothing but a single dirt road and green valley as far as eye can reach. There are some mountains in the distance but they are so far away you can only slightly see them above horizon.

'Comrade General, may I ask something?' Misha is still sitting at the back seat, he is not affected by this heat even the slightest. He still has his helmet on and his face does not show even the slightest hint of sweat.

'Go on Misha.'

'It's almost lunch time, if you don't mind I would like to go to one of our trucks and eat something.'

'I would like to go with Misha as well, check out some soldiers and few of the townsfolk along the way' Natasha also spoke. Alexei can see that she already prepared her medical bag.

'Hm…. Alright, you have my permission. Also see that some local kids come here and drive with us. I am sure they will enjoy it.'

'Yes comrade general!' both of them saluted and exit the jeep. Alexei can see Sergei smiling. He can already sense what he is thinking.

'Don't' he said to him.

'I won't, we are on a mission after all and the last thing I need is to see you irritated.'

'Good' Alexei focused his attention to the vast green valley.

'But you love kids, and love them a lot. It's really shame to see such good person like you not enjoying time with his own kids' Sergei could see Alexei sighting, this is definitely not the time or the place. But Alexei is calm. He does not want to allow personal feelings to interact with his delicate subject.

'I know, everyone and their dog are telling me that. Not caring that as a soldier I have a duty toward my motherland first and foremost' he looks Sergei in the eyes. 'Even if I die on the line of duty I would not regret my life, not even for a single second' he is sending him clear message about his stances.

'Of course, nobody mentioned that…' Sergei backs off. He clearly sees that he is still far away to convince him otherwise. And he is afraid that Alexei's biological clock is running out.

'Good' Alexei focused his attention again on vast green valley. There was few seconds of silence before the doors of the jeep opened again. Three little kids entered together with one teenage girl and the blonde elf that they saved yesterday. Both Alexei and Sergei are confused why are the two of them in their jeep. On the other hand all of the passengers on back seat cannot hold their amazement of riding in the horseless transport.

'Egh…. Excuse me…' Alexei started saying, the blonde elf and two of the kids' payed attention to him. 'But what are you doing here?' He is looking at blonde elf.

'Eh?' she started. 'I… I just wanted to thank you once again for saving me' Alexei can see honesty in her face. Her smile is warm and genuine.

'Oh please, you don't need to. We were just doing our duty. But tell me, are you really an elf?' the blonde elf got confused by his question.

'Eh?' she asked and titled her head to a side.

'If you are asking this I presume that Elves do not exist on your side of the GATE?' the blue teenage girl asks.

'That is correct assumption, on our side of the GATE only humans exists' Alexei answered. His answer impressed the teenage girl.

'Please, I wish to learn more about your world' she asks, Alexei can see the excitement in her eyes.

'Are you sure little girl? There are many thing considering our world you really do not wish to know' Sergei stated his opinion as well.

'Tell me, what is your name little one?' Alexei asks her.

'My apologies, my name is Lelei La Lalena. I am a mage apprentice with Sage Cat oas my apprentice.'

'A mage?' Sergei asks. 'Like a real magician?'

'Yes, I am just a beginner but my magic level can go up to medium level as far as some spells go.'

'I am guessing that you are also a scholar?' Alexei asks. Lelei sense great interests coming from him, his glowing brown eyes are also revealing that.

'That is correct, as magical apprentice it is my job to learn as much as I can.'

'And because of that you also harbor great knowledge.'

'That is also correct.'

'Hmm….' Alexei is examining her. She may be girl, fifteen or sixteen year years old, but her way of thinking and her serious stance is making her appear much more mature. 'The village chieftain said that he will make sure someone talks to me regarding the transfer of information but I never imagine it would be someone like you.'

'Are you concerned that I am not up to the task because of my age?'

'How odl are you exactly?' Sergei asks.

'Fifteen years old.'

'Damn… you sound like you have double that age' Sergei cannot hide his amazement.

'Please, despite my age I am very dependable and hardworking. I would love to work with you and help in any way I can' Alexei is surprised by her seriousness. The look in her blue eyes is not lying.

'I have no doubts about your abilities, you must forgive me but I am men that prefers old ways of thinking. To me you should be playing with other kids, not devote yourself to something so serious so early' Lelei is closely listening to Alexei. 'But I guess things works differently here. It will be an honor to work with you if you are half as good as you claim you are.'

'I… I am, you can be sure of that' Alexei is happy to hear her say that, her devotion won him over. 'We shall see then' he turns his attention to the blonde elf/ 'How about you miss? What is your name?'

'Ugh… my name is Tuka Luna Marceau' she answers after slight delay, being caught in the moment.

'Tell me Tuka, are you feeling well today?'

'I do, thank you once again.'

'Do you have somewhere to go to, family or friends that live outside your village?' To that question Tuka bowed her head. That reaction was everything Alexei needed to know the situation. That village was everything to her and she has lost it the moment that dragon appeared. 'Don't be sad Tuka, you are safe now. If you do not have anywhere to go then you are free to live with us until you find new home one day. I cannot fulfil the role of your lover or your parents but at least I can offer some sanctuary' Tuka became very happy after hearing that proposal. Her eyes are on verge of tears.

'Thank you…father….' she said.

'Excuse me?' Alexei asks, confused after hearing what Tuka just said.

'Wow, you are awesome mister' one of the little kids sitting between Tuka and Lelei declared so.

'Yes, you are so good mister' little girl sitting next to him cheered.

'Great guy' the last kid said so as well. Alexei is left speechless and confused.

'What do you know, you got a little fan club and a kid all in the same package' Sergei said so and didn't even tried to hide his smile. Lelei is also amazed to see someone like Alexei, and warrior who are also compassionate at heart. She is expecting to learn great things from him as to her he seems like he is scholar as well, despite current profession.

'Now wait just a minute…' Alexei started to talk to Sergei, but stopped once he saw that Sergei's smile drooped instantly. 'What's wrong?'

'There is someone sitting on the road.'

'Huh' Alexei looked at the front of the jeep, he too could see shadowy black figure sitting on the road not far from them. He also noticed scarecrows flying above her. 'I have a bad feeling about this.'

'What do you want me to do?'

'Continue driving and stop when we get close to it, we don't know if it will attack us or not' Alexei is slowly getting his pistol out from his holster. He wants to be prepared in case things go downhill once they reach whoever is sitting in the middle of the road.

'An Oracle!' One of the kids shouted and drew Alexei's attention.

'Oracle?' Alexei asks, but he received no answer. The kids opened doors and exit the jeep. They are rushing toward the black figure.

'Alexei?' Sergei asks, clearly confused at the development of the situation.

'Stop the jeep, let us see what all the commotion is about' Sergei nodded and stopped the jeep.

'Rory Mercury' Alexei turned around to see Lelei sitting in the middle and looking at the shadowy figure.

'Wow….' Tuka is near her, she seems amazed by the figure.

'I am guessing that she is someone famous?' Alexei asks.

'She is demigod and apostle to Emroy, the famed God of War and Death.'

'Pardon me Alexei, my ancient Latin is rusty but did she just said "god of war and death"?' Sergei asks, Alexei pats him on his right shoulder.

'It seems that gods really exists in this world, let us just hope that they are friendly' he turned his attention toward Lelei again. 'Tell me, should we expect any problems from her?'

'Despite her looks she is actually not a bad person. And she will never hurt innocent people, so as long as we are not doing anything unlawful we should be alright.'

'A code of honor eh? I like it' Alexei smiled and exit the jeep. He stands by the door and faces the dark figure as it came right to them, examining their vehicle.

'Oracle!' Rory smile as she sees several little kids rushing toward her.

'Greetings little ones' she proceeds to pet the nearest kid. 'Tell me, where are you from?'

'We are from the Coda village great oracle' one of the kids answers, 'we are currently moving out.'

'Is there some particular reason?'

'Fire Dragon was seen in this parts, the village chief is moving us all toward Italica for safety' the other kid now answers.

'Fire Dragon eh?' she asks, starting to slowly walk toward convoy.

'Yes Oracle, it already destroyed an elf village at the edge of the forest. Luckily for us these strangers offered to escort us to Italica' the kid point fingers to the first vehicle I the convoy, it sparked Rory's interest the moment she saw it.

'I see, so you were not forced out of your homes?'

'We were not Oracle, these strangers help us to pack our things for the trip.'

'Did they now?'

'Yes, they also gave us some very delicious food to eat and toys to have as gifts.'

'So a nice people eh….' Rory stopped at the front of the strange vehicle and touched it. She could feel the warmth under its metal.

'What is this?' she asks.

'I don't know, but it can go on its own. It's very comfortable to our own wagons as well.'

'Interesting…' Rory walks to the vehicle's right side, touching and examining it until she stopped in front of a tall man in what seems to be military uniform.

'Greetings young lady, how are you today' Alexei asks, not sure what kind of results he will get form this strange little girl. She smiled at his question.

'Very polite aren't we?' she asks.

'I am a military officer after all. Part of my creed is to be polite toward women.'

'I see…' she throws a look at the rest of the convoy. 'So you are really helping these people?'

'Of course, we could not leave them alone while that beast in the sky is roaming around.'

'I see… very noble of you. Mind if I join your convoy?' Alexei thought for a moment, he is very skeptical about her but if what Lelei said was true than it would be a good thing for her to join them. Having one of the local warriors to assist them would be great help.

'What is your name miss?' Alexei asks, keeping in mind that treating her like a kid is probably not the best idea right now - even if she looks like one.

'I am Rory Mercury, apostle of Emroy' Rory bowed while presenting herself. Obliviously to make more dramatic scene, Alexei raised an eyebrow and made a faint smile.

'My name is Alexei Kostadinov, commanding officer of the Red Army troops who are escorting this convoy' Alexei offered his hand, Rory shake it after a moment of hesitation.

'The Red Army? It's that how you call yourselves?'

'Indeed, we are an army of peasants and workers who has long ago stood up against its oppressors' Alexei can see that he didn't spark that much interest in her as there is something else on her mind.

'Very interesting…' she shifted her attention to jeep, 'will I be riding in one of these?'

'Sure, if you want' Alexei noticed that Rory got upset about something. She is looking at something behind him. Alexei turned around to see three Soviet soldiers, their weapons at the ready.

'Comrade General?' one of them asks, clearly wondering why the convoy stopped.

'It's alright comrades, return to your transports' three soldiers stand down, saluted and go back to their designated trucks. Alexei return back to Rory only to see that she already decided to enter his jeep and sit at his designated seat.

'The kids were right, this is really comfortable ride.'

'No wait just a minu….' Alexei started to complain, only for Rory to move herself on the edge of his seat and pat the empty space she left.

'How about we share this seat? Surely both of us are fit enough to sit here' she put an innocent smile on her face, but Alexei cannot help but sense sinister aura coming from her. Alexei cannot help but sigh, unable to reason with the little dark girl.

'You know Alexei, several kids in the jeep. The two of us alone… I have no desire to go in jail because of your strange fetishes…' Sergei said, only to be quest after facing Alexei's angry look.

'This is not time for jokes Sergei.'

'I understand Alexei… My mistake…'

'Sigh…' Alexei enters the jeep and sits near Rory. That is to say they are sharing a front seat. 'As soon as the kids enter continue driving' Alexei says while holding his head in his right hand. His head is starting to hurt.

'That is some very strange language you two are talking' Rory stated, 'but I like it.'

'I like it as well, is there a possibility I could learn it?' Lelei boldly states, as serious as she is just about to go on a war mission.

'Me too, I wish to talk with father on his own native language' Tuka said, her statement made Rory to rise her eyebrow. Alexei said nothing, he just continue to hold his hand in his hand.

'Alexei, what did they say?'

'They want to learn Russian Sergei, all three of them' it is in that moment that all the kids that were outside entered jeep and Sergei fire up the ignition. Alexei turned around to face Lelei and Tuka 'for now let us see until the end of this journey. Once we reach Italica then we can agree on everything you wish. Understand?' His proposition made everyone happy.

'Yes father' Tuka said.'

'I am looking forward to that' Lelei said.

'Indeed, it would be interesting to learn some new things' Rory said.

And with that they continued their trip. Alexei note how all three of them found riding a jeep quite enjoying. Alexei is thinking about the three girls that are riding with him in the jeep. The blonde elf called Tuka has certainly been through hell, and the fact she calls him "father" means that she must have some mental scarring from that event. In any case she is alone now and needs all the help she can get. Alexei is glad to see her smiling as she talk to the other two girls present.

The blue haired girl called Lelei reminds Alexei of his younger self the most. Intelligent, idealistic, determined and eager to learn new things, Alexei thinks that this girl probably knows too much for her own good. But that is alright as well, this is new world after all and having intellectuals who can grasp the knowledge of both worlds would be a very positive thing for everyone. She is mage as well. Using her talents for magic scientist back on Earth can probably develop new technologies which could make their world much safer and better for everyone. The possibilities are endless if the right cards are played.

In the end there is Rory, sitting near Alexei and still amazed at how jeep moves on his own. He is most mysterious of all three, even if she looks like a girl Alexei can see that is certainly not the case. She has a religious symbol among the population and the axe she carries is not for show either. But she does not seem evil or that much menacing. Having someone religious near the Red Army never brought any good results, especially with country's stance on religion. Nevertheless, if she is as powerful as people around them thing it's better to have her as a friend than foe.

The convoy continued forward at top speed possible. It was now middle of the day and the sun burned the countryside. The soldiers embarked from their trucks and started giving water bottles to the people in convoy, they brought extra with them and for the people in the convoy it was more practical to use plastic bottles then buckets to drink. Natasha came at the side of the jeep and offered a report to Alexei.

'So the people from this village are safe then?'

'Their immune system seems strong enough to protect us from any disease we may carry. But in future it would be wise to issue general vaccination just to be safe, we cannot be as careless as Spanish were when they were conquering America' Alexei bite his lower lip, getting approval from Moscow is going to be hard. Especially for medications not reserved for their own troops.

'Of course Natasha, I would not have it any other way as well. Tell me how much until we reach that town?'

'The chief said one more day of traveling.'

'One more day?' Alexei sighted. 'This heat is going to be the end of me…' he expressed his dissatisfaction while clearing his forehead with Natasha's towel. Natasha smiled, started looking for something in her medical bag and offered it to Alexei once she found it.

'Here Alexei, this should cool you down a bit' she offered him a wooden fan, that seems to have nice Indian motive to it.

'A fan I gave you for birthday last year?'

'The same' Alexei took the fan, open it fully and started cooling his head. He is enjoying the blessed current of cold air generated by the fan Natasha gave him.

'How about sharing some of that cold air, eh comrade?' Sergei asks to be cooled down as well. Alexei smile and start generating air in Sergei's direction.

'You deserve some after being so hardworking drive on this heat.'

'Thanks Alexei, can I take it?' Alexei passed his fan to Sergei who cools himself down with his right hand while driving with his left.

'You do not handle heat well?' Rory asks Alexei.

'My country is mostly based in northern part of the world, the weather we have there over the year is usually much cooler than in the rest of the world. This area we are in is probably situated around center, making the climate much hotter than the one I used to.'

'Well this area is considered the center of the continent. Up west we have great desert and on the north we have great forest and mountain chains with eternal snow on their top' Lelei step in to explain further. Alexei is picturing the image in his head.

"Giving that explanation logically we should be in an area similar to that of southeastern Europe but without massive mountain chain. It would be hot but grass fields and large deciduous forests mixed with a bit of pinophyta trees" Alexei looks out of his window to see vast valley of grass again. "This is after all a very beautiful world, not claimed by fires of industrialization yet. I wish I have the opportunity to enjoy it a bit before that happens" he looks at his rear mirror, he can clearly see distant mountain chain in it. But ne noticed something in it, he get closer to confirm it is not a simple black stain on the glass.

'Natasha can you see this' Alexei points his finger to the stain. Natasha turns around and looks at that general direction.

'Can I get binoculars?' she asks, Alexei took binoculars from his compartment and gave them to Natasha. She looked through them and run back to report.

'It's a dragon, the same one we saw in forest. It's heading straight for the convoy.'

'By Lenin…' Alexei turn to Sergei. 'Segei, park the jeep on the side of the road and make sure these three are safe.'

'And where are you going?'

'Where else? To lead the troops of course' Alexei said so and jumped form the jeep. Sergei speed up and park it at the side. Alexei rushed toward Natasha and he can see that Vladimir is rushing as well toward them.

'Comrade General….' he saluted.

'I saw it as well comrade sergeant, report.'

'I organized the men and we are getting into position, but the convoy wagons. They are too slow…' he didn't get to finish his sentence when the big stream of fire hit the wagons that were located in the middle of convoy. Luckily most of the other wagons started to rush in whatever direction they could, running as soon as some of them saw the beast in the sky. The fire managed to hit two of them, engulfing them in flames. Few other wagons rolled over, sending some of their passengers into graves as their spines and necks broke under the weight of the cargo or by falling on the ground violently. Children who were so happy just minutes before started screaming and running in any direction they could to avoid dragon's wrath.

As soon as Sergei parked the jeep all three of its passenger jumped outside.

'Hey, you three. Wait!' Sergei tried to shout to them but they would not listen. None of them understood his language after all. 'Damn it…' Sergei cursed as he grabbed his AK and rushed outside to join the others.

Rory stopped and look at the beast above, it made half of circle around convoy and was preparing to shoot it's deadly flames once again.

'I am no expert but I think I can create a barrier that could protect you for a few moments at least' Lelei declared so, Rory can see determination in her eyes and blue light illuminating from her staff. Near them Tuka grabbed old bow and few arrows.

'I am pretty underequipped for something like this but I can at least try to draw its attention' she said as she moved the arrow on the bow, stretching its strings and checking it's limits. It is not in such a bad shape but she would rather not have the strings snap in most crucial time.

'I see… Well then, I will count on two of you to aid me' Rory said so as she look once more at the flying beast that stooped in mid-air and was just about to unleash another stream of fire upon the convoy. 'If only we could find a way to bring it closer to the ground…'

Suddenly Dragon's belly got hit with something, it made the creature scream and preventing its second fire upon convoy. Several smaller explosions appeared on the Dragon's belly but it had little effect except to further agitate the creature. Rory also noticed a lot of smaller projectiles hitting the creature all over its body, but again to no avail. Then the three of them saw something flying toward the Dragon, it was aimed clearly at its chest but the creature moved so whatever was flying toward it hit its left wing instead. The projectile hit at the spot where wing and main body connect, the blast was so strong it cut the Dragon's left wing and the creature crushed to the ground.

Rory, Lelei and Tuka are impressed. Whatever that was it must be the work of Alexei's men. But they now want to take as much from the given opportunity as they can and all three of them rushed toward downed Dragon.

Meanwhile Alexei is observing the situation, looking at the downed creature from the distance. He can clearly see the damage that Bastion rocket made, the damage was not as he expects it would be.

'AK fire has no effect at all, autocannon fire only further agitates it and the only real damage is done by 9M117 anti-tank rocket.'

'Should I order the men to grab as many RPG's as they can from the trucks?'

'Yes comrade sergeant, divide the men into two teams. One will assist the injured civilians and the other will grab as many RPG's as they can and fire at the beast. Misha! Where are the MiG's?' Alexei shouts to Misha, who is crouching near one of the rolled wagons and working with his radio equipment.

'They should be here in 30 seconds comrade general!'

'Tell them to use anti-tank weapons, it's the only thing it will hurt this bastard! Relay that info to Mil squadron as well!'

'Yes comrade general!' Misha shouted as he doubled his efforts to find right frequency and relay that information to the incoming reinforcements. Alexei turns around only to see Sergei rushing toward him.

'What are you doing here?' Alexei shouted, he is not seeing any of the three girls from the jeep.

'Looking for those little three idiots, they rushed from the jeep as soon as I parked and vanished.' Sergei can see anger slowly building up in Alexei.

'Nevermind, we will find them. Go to KraZ's and take RPG, we will need as much as we can to take this monster down.'

'Understood comrade general!' Sergei saluted and rushed toward one of the trucks.

"Where could they have gone?" Alexei wonders as he spots them the very next second, rushing toward downed dragon. "Those idiots!" he curses in his mind as he run as fast as they can toward them.

Downed beast tries to rise slowly. The pain in its back is barely sufferable, it is ready for blood. Revenge for the ones who dare to hurt it. He can hear something beyond the dust cloud it created with its fall. The Dragon focuses its remaining right eye, trying to take a glimpse of what it could possibly be. The last thing his right eye saw was an arrow flying right toward it, an arrow that closed it forever.

The beast roared in pain and started rolling around. It was then that three humanoid figure stand to face it. Dragon was blind now but its hearing sense was still sharp. He could feel that they were right in front of him.

'Sorry, but that was all I could manage. The bow snapped right after I ejected the arrow.'

'Good work Tuka, you blinded him and gave us much bigger chance. Leave it to us now' Lelei said to Tuka as she started chanting her magic. Meanwhile, Rory stood in front of the wounded Dragon, ready to face it in battle.

'Hihi…. It seems that I will be entertained today. And by Fire Dragon no less' Rory licked her upper lip as she made her battles stance. Lelei formed magical shield in front of Rory just as about the Dragon is preparing to fire his deadly blast again.

'Sorry but this is the best I can do. I cannot guarantee that it will hold attack as powerful as this one.'

'Don't worry, it will be enough for me to strike the killing blow' Rory prepared as Dragon was just about to unleash its deadly flame. But she was pushed aside by an unknown figure. Next moment the Dragon unleashed it's flame, it was so strong that Lelei's shield broke in just a few seconds. Rory looked at the figure that pushed her away, it was Alexei. He is breathing heavily, meaning that he was probably running as fast as he could. His armor and helmet are alsod gone, it seems that he made himself as light as possible to reach her in time.

'Alexei…' Rory started, but she stopped the moment she meet his eyes. Rage as the only thing that existed in them at that moment. Alexei stood up and prepared his weapon.

'Stay here!' he shouted toward Lelei, throwing quick look toward Lelei and Tuka who were standing there silently. Amazed by his bravery 'you two as well!' He shouted again, clearly to attract the Dragon's attention. The beast got up on its two legs in meantime and was slowly focusing on Alexei's voice. Alexi took aim with his pistol and fired, he shoot three bullets aimed at creatures head. It worked as the creature got annoyed by his attack.

'Come on you bastard! Face me!' Alexei shouted as he started running toward the nearby clearing, firing on the move. Dragon sensed that his new prey was moving and he anticipated it's direction. He jumped with his two legs, and it was strong enough to land right beside Alexei. The jump made Alexei lose his balance and fall to the ground. But only for a second as he stood up, continued running and fire two more bullets at the beast. After few dozen meters Alexei stopped, behind him was open terrain so if Dragon fired the convoy would not be affected. Dragon was preparing to unleash his deadly breath once more, aimed directly at Alexei.

'Damn, damn, damn, damn…' Alexei panicked as he continued firing from his weapon, hitting only few times as Dragon was outside effective range of his service pistol. The convoy passengers were looking at him and anticipating what will happen next. Rory, Lelei and Tuka are worried this may be Alexei's end. Another brave soul killed as he tried to selflessly defend locals from horrifying beast. But just as the Dragon was ready to kill Alexei something happened. Huge explosion happened and the Dragon was knocked down to the ground, screaming in pain.

Everyone was confused at what just happened, moreover next few seconds as they heard something approaching. Then all of a sudden two strange objects appeared in the sky above them. Villagers, Rory, Lelei and Tuka were astonished to see metallic birds pass above them in such speed. They never saw anything like it.

'Yes!' Alexei cheered as MiG's finally arrived and unleashed their deadly weapons. But it seems that they first decided to use standard air-to-air missiles as Dragon was not hurt at all, only thrown aside and disoriented. "They will probably use anti-tank missles once they made a turn" Alexei thought. In the same time Vladimir is rusing toward him with fifteen soldiers, all armed with RPG-7's. Alexei saw them and quickly started shouting orders.

'Form a line!'

'Form a line!' Vladimir repeated Alexei's orders and Soviet soldiers formed a single line, crouched and readied their RPG's to fire. Alexei throw a quick look at the Dragon. The beast is still disoriented and it's exactly at the end of their effective range, Some 200 meters far away.

'Open fire!' the order was given and Soviet soldiers opened fire. Fifteen rockets fly toward blind and disoriented beast, six miss and the other hit it in various areas from neck to tail. The creature is screaming in pain and start rolling around in frenzy.

'Reaload!' Alexei shouted orders. The Soviet soldiers started mounting another projectile on their RPG's. Another loud sound soon appeared and volley of projectiles, big and small started raining on the Dragon, villagers looked above and saw more metal beasts in the air. This one was much bigger than the ones that flew just now and are able to hover in the air. All of them were fascinated to see something like this, it was like death incarnate appearing to punish the breast who dared to anger the men in green.

Alexei is overjoyed to see Mi-24's finally arriving and spending no time in bombarding the Dragon with their missile pods and machine guns.

From inside the craft the commander could see that there was no effect with standard armament.

'Comrade Lieutenant, the word just came on the radio. This creature has skin as strong as tank armor. Our standard weaponry is not effective. Use of anti-tank missiles is ordered' weapon system officer notified the pilot.

'Understood, preparing to fire Fleyta' Lieutenant replied and starts preparing his gunship for fire.

Alexei can see that MiL's have stopped firing from their main weapons. They are probably preparing to fire their anti-tank missile. Fire Dragon was still rolling in pain when all four Mi-24's fire a single Fleyta missile. Missiles hit and a large fire and smoke cloud engulfed the beast, the Dragon released cry of pain and suffering. Moments later another one, much bigger fire and explosion occurred, this time Dragon said nothing. His head could be clearly seen flying off to the side, detached form his body.

Few moments later MiG's flew over the battlefield. Preparing to make one more turn to make sure the creature is dead. But the creature is indeed dead, once smoke cleared a bit everyone could see Dragon parts scattered all around the field, gigantic crater was left nit he place where the beast once stood. Soviet troops started to cheer and hug between themselves, congratulating on a job well done.

'UUURRRAAA!'

Vladimir released a shout and all the troops followed him, except Alexei who just stood behind them silently. He is checking his pistol, only a single bullet remained in the clip. "I was lucky again, but I doubt the same situation will play out next time" he thought as he look at the sky and saw MiG's turning around and returning to base. The combined power of RPG's, Mi-24 and MiG 29 anti-tank missiles saved them. It took a lot of effort and resources but it was done.

'You….you….' Alexei turned around to see village chief and several more villagers behind him. Everyone is looking at him in shock and awe. 'You killed the fire Dragon'.

'Yes I did' Alexei throw a smile as he holstered his pistol back in its place.

'Not bad… for an army of peasants and workers' Alexei saw Rory, Tuka and Lelei approaching him. They were also surprised by what they just saw, except Rory who was smiling. Alexei can sense interest and pleasure behind that smile, he wonder what could that feeling mean.

'Comrade General,' Natasha approached Alexei and saluted him 'if the beast is dead I will need all the troops you can spare. We have a lot of injured people.'

'Are you gods?' Village chieftain asks Alexei.

'No we are not,' Alexei nod to Natasha and grabbed village chieftain's left shoulder with his right arm. 'We need to organize and tend to everyone who is wounded in this attack. Organize men from your village and I will organize mine.'

'S….Sure…' Village chieftain said and started giving orders to villagers who stood behind him.

'Misha!' Alexei shouted for his radio operator, he appeared few seconds later. 'Tell the men in MiL's have to stay here, we may have seriously injured people who will need immediate transfer to hospital at our base.' Misha nods and starts working on his radio. Alexei throw a quick glance to the three girls and saw that all three of them joined in helping injured people.

'And you did it again,' Alexei turn around only to see Sergei. He is not looking happy despite their victory 'rushing like an idiot to save someone. You learned nothing from Afghanistan.'

'Sergei, please…'

'Don't worry. I have no intention on debating anything here. Especially when situation is as sensitive as it is. But ask yourself Alexei, if those MiG's were late even for a second would you still be alive now?' Alexei didn't utter a single word. He looked at Sergei and just stood there silently. 'Next time you consider trying something so insane please stop for a second and remember all of our comrades, your mission, Natasha, those three girls who are tied to you now. Just imagine how lost and broken some of them would be if you had died. I am off to help the wounded, you might want to sort things out with village chief and see what to do next' with that said Sergei joined the nearest unit of soldiers who were clearing the insides of a turned wagon, trying to locate survivors.

Alexei knew that Sergei is right, he was always right about spiritual things and emotional matter of people around him. Alexei decided to put that thought for later, he now needs to see what to do next. He search for village chief and finds him among the group of villager, debating something.

'Chief, tell me… how bad were we hit?' He asks, felling little uncomfortable as he can see how desperate the chief is.

'Twenty people died in today's attack, among them were two children. Almost third of our villagers are injured in one way or another. But this would be a slaughter if not you and your men Alexei, I thank you…' village chief bow to Alexei, showing his respect.

'You do not need to thank me, we were merely doing our duty' he looks around and see many wounded villagers on the ground, assisted by either another villagers or Red Army soldiers. 'Tell me chief, what is your next move?'

'We will salvage all we can and continue our march to Italica. But I fear that not many of us will be able to enter the city now.'

'Why not?'

'See around you general, most of our belongings are in ruins. And we never had much money as we are simple farming community. To stay in Italica means to pay for the rent, and not many of us had that kind of money. But we will manage somehow. We are not as weak as we appear. Now that the threat of Dragon is nonexistent we do not need you or your soldiers to escort us to the city. Mere words cannot express for thankful we are, I am sorry we are not able to return the favor in equal proportion…' Alexei looked at the village chief, his old face show the sign of great relief and happiness. Even if they are having nowhere to go and not many positions these people are currently happy just to have survived the onslaught of the Fire Dragon. Alexei look at the three girls standing near them and watching, curious to see how situation will resolve.

'Tell me chief, you cannot return to your own village now that Dragon is gone?'

'We can but the harvest season is over and most of our supplies were destroyed in the attack or left behind, many of us would starve to death before the winter is over.'

'The forest is also swarming with bandits, as weak as we are now we would be easy prey for them. The walls of Italica are our only chance to be safe once again' one of the men standing behind village chief responded, the chief turned around and started arguing with the men. Pointing out how not all of them would be able to stay in the city. Alexei focus for the moment to think what to do next, he took into account all the factors known to him and possible consequences depending on the actions taken after this event. He came to one conclusion from which he and everyone else will benefit the most.

'Chief' the old men turned around again, now facing Alexei. The rest of the villagers as well as three girls are all interested to see what happens next.

'Yes?'

'After thinking for about and I wish to make a proposal to you and your people.'

'Go on' chief listens with great interest.

'Near our base on Alnus Hill we are building a small settlement, we planned to populate it without own people and hopefully establish trade network with the nearby cities. You and your people know the area and possibly have connections in more than one city nearby' Alexei put his right arm on chief's right shoulder. 'So what do you say that you and your lot come and live in that new settlement together with us? We can always expand it and build new homes for our soldiers. And giving how entire situation turned out I doubt many would complain to not choose to help our refuges in need of protection. So what do you say?' Alexei asks, village chief needed few moments to calm himself down.

'Are… are you sure it's ok general Alexei?'

'Of course, you have my word on that. And you can call me comrade Alexei chief' Chief's eyes filled with tears as he hug Alexei.

'Thank you very much, or people will forever be grateful to you' Alexei smiled and sighed, he throw a quick look toward the three girls to see all three of them smiling as well. It's like they knew he will offer his assistance.

Alexei went to organize his men. He jumped to the top of BMP and shouted for attention.

'Comrades, I am very proud of you all. We slay a powerful beast and our skills and swiftness would make Comrade Lenin proud!' the Soviet soldiers cheered with joy. 'Now another task is at hand, Comrade Sergeant!' Vladimir rushed to Alexei and saluted. 'Organize the men and make room in the trucks, these people are going with us.'

'With us comrade general?'

'That's right comrade sergeant, these people are now refuges and in correspondence to United Nation laws we as members of that organization are bound to assist them. Put all the critically wounded in MiL's, the lightly wounded to sit in the trucks and the rest as you see fit. Alright Comrades, let us take care of this people like we would do of our own. For the eternal glory of the Red Army and USSR, go and fulfil your assignments. URA!'

'UUURRRAAA!' the Soviet soldiers cheered and started preparing villagers for transportation in their own trucks.

'Good thing both of those trucks are filled with less than half their normal capacity, otherwise a lot of them would follow us on foot. We can put ten soldiers in BMP and freed up more space for the villagers' Segei approached and expressed his opinion. Beside him are both Natasha and Vladimir who just sent his men and decided to hear the rest of what his general has to say on the matter.

'Good, make it happen. Natasha?' Sergei went to organize the men while Natasha came next in line for giving opinion and reviving orders.

'There are not too many seriously injured, the five villagers who were are lift up to Mi-24's and sent to field hospital. The rest suffered some bruises and with the exception of one dislocated shoulder the rest are fine.'

'In that case take as many kids as you can and put them in medical jeep. They will endure the travel back a lot easier.'

'Yes comrade general' she saluted and rushed toward her medical jeep. Only Vladimir is left and Alexei also noticed the three girls approaching them. He had no doubt that they also had questions about all of this.

'Vladimir, do you have something to ask?'

'Alexei… are we really going to take this people as refuges?'

'Of course, are you against it Vladimir?'

'Of course not comrade general, but I am concerned about what will the Politburo say about this. There are many who disapprove you as a commander of this expedition, this kind of action will only give them more ammunition to fire at you' Alexei climb down from BMP and pat Vladimir on his right shoulder.

'I know that Vlad, that is why I am putting my faith in United Nations, media and NATO. This action will not only show us in brighter light but will also strengthen ort position in the world. As well as continue the influx of much needed investments into our ruined economic system.'

'And I have no doubt that comrade Ivan will make the best of that situation, making both the Party and Gorbachev happy. But your enemies will nevertheless use that fact to their advantage Alexei. Ivan can only hold them for so long.'

'I know that Vlad, but if I have to choose between helping those in need and facing the wrath of my enemies I would go with the option that would leave my soul in peace' Vladimir smiled to that answer.

'Very well, if such is your wish, I will go and organize the men. We should be in our main base tomorrow morning, I will radio Pavel and tell him to be prepared for when we come.'

'Good comrade sergeant, you may continue your task at hand.'

'Yes comrade general' Vladimir saluted Alexei and went to organize his soldiers.

'I am sorry lord general… may I have word with you?' Alexei turned and saw elderly men in yellow like robes, big blue hat and staff similar to the one Lelei was carrying. He can also notice Lelei, Tuka and Rory standing behind him.

'Go ahead, and its comrade general.'

'My apologies then… for that and for my young apprentice' Alexei look at Lelei and saw that she is a bit embarrassed. It must have something to do with an old man present here.

'And what did your young apprentice did that you must apologize to me?'

'She hastily offered her services to you without any sort of counseling and without knowing that you would require someone like her or someone more knowledgeable.'

'Someone like you perhaps?'

'Who, me?' the old men points to himself 'I would never accept it as I am an old men and only interested in passing my knowledge to my chosen student and enjoying retirement. Working for an army or sage is a thing of a past for me.'

'I see. Then you would have no arguments if I take Lelei as my advisor for this world?' The old men look at Alexei, he is confused about his decision.

'I won't, if she can balance between my lessons and your studies then its fine. But are you sure you are alright with her? She is smart and dedicated but there are a lot of scholars more knowledgeable than her' Alexei looks at Lelei, he can see that she is impatiently waiting for his answer.

'I am ok with her, after all who could refuse a person with such determination?'

'I see' old men smiled and offered his hand, 'My name is Cato El Altestan, I hope we will get along' Alexei took old men's hand and shake it.

'Me too mister Altenstan' Alexei throw a quick look to three girls and see all of them happy, blonde elf hugging Lelei and Rory just looking at him and smiling. Alexei is glad that he made people happy. Back in Afghanistan it was very hard to do so despite his best efforts. But this is new world, new world that is oblivious to the conflicts and division of the old world. Here they can start anew and do things differently while not being judged because of their past or the system and ideology their country is founded upon.

Alexei decided that few wounded villagers drive in his own jeep while he will sit down with the soldiers and villagers in one of the KraZ trucks. Not surprising at all, three girls also decided to drive in the same truck he was in. Everyone pretty much started to see them as his daughters, but Alexei didn't mind. He decided to left time and destiny to do their thing and play along for now, after they seated everyone the trucks started driving back to the base.

It was middle of night but nobody was in a mood to sleep, still shocked over the attack that happened a while ago. Alexei and several of the soldiers noticed how nervous the villagers are and that started to make them nervous as well. They wanted to do something, anything to make them feel a bit better. Few of them offered water and candy but to no greater effect. It only made entire situation that much awkward.

'Расцветали яблони и груши,' Alexei suddenly started singing 'Поплыли туманы над рекой. Выходила на берег Катюша, На высокий берег, на крутой…' the villagers were surprised to hear him sing. But they liked the song and got more relaxed listening to him sinning.

'Выходила на берег Катюша, На высокий берег, на крутой…' soldiers in truck also joined and sang last two lines Alexei just recited. Alexei continued, this time his soldiers singing together with him.

'Выходила, песню заводила Про степного, сизого орла, Про того, которого любила, Про того, чьи письма берегла…' Alexei and his soldiers sang while villagers listened and enjoyed. Some of them started moving left and right, enjoying the tune of the song. They didn't understand a word of their language, but they still enjoyed the song. Some of them even feel asleep while listening to it, the rest enjoyed as Alexei and his soldiers sing until late into the night.


	5. New Moscow

In local pub on way to Italica princess Pina is having a drink with her knights. They are discussing their strategies on gathering information about new invading force.

'Men in green' Pina asks the most senior part of her companions. An old men with his hair entirely albino which signify his age, but from his stance and voice alone shines an aura of veteran soldier and wise men.

'That's the name that people gave them, apparently they have visited several villages around Alnus Hill.'

"So they have already started establishing contact with nearby settlements? Clever strategy…" Pina though. It was only natural to start spreading your influence after you have gained some ground on enemy soil. She fears that this could mean end of the Empire if they do not act with haste and counter them.

'Princess' a women's voice interrupted her flow of thoughts. It is Hamilton, 'take notice of the table across our own. The waitress there mentions the men in green' they all focused their attention to the table in question, they could clearly see waitress boasting while men around her are all confused and shocked.

'I wonder what she told them?' one of their party member asks, the only young male present with them. Hamilton raised her hand 'Waitress!'

The young waitress rushed to their table as quickly as she could, she could recognize knights form a mile away. And imperial knights were known for their wealth.

'How can I assist noble ones?' she politely asks.

'We are interested in hearing what you told them about men in green?' Hamilton asks, the waitress started scratching her beard.

'I don't know… its sensitive information you know…'

'I am sure it is' Hamilton declared so and put a bag of coin on the table, 'will this be enough to refresh your memory?' Waitress took the bag and put her on her waist.

'Why you are most generous today my lord, I will also bring a round of drinks.'

'Of course, but right now tell us what you know' waitress took nearby chair and sit down between Pina and old men.

'This is story confirmed by several villagers and one local mage which visited the site after men in green were gone' she looks left then right, to see if anyone was listening. Pina is bored of her attitude as she is clearly acting to set the atmosphere, but she decided to overlook it. After all, the information she will hear is much more important. 'There was a Fire Dragon assaulting the area.'

'A Fire Dragon?' the old man asks.

'Yes sire, he destroyed the elf village to the south at the edge of the forest. All nearby villages evacuated and seek shelter in nearby towns.'

'To think such beast would appear in time of such crisis…' the young male stated his opinion.

'Wait, you said 'was', correct?' Hamilton asks.

'Indeed my lord, the Fire Dragon proceeded to hunt down convoy of local villagers. A convoy that was protected by men in green' there was a moment of silence.

'So are you saying that they were able to chase it away?' the old man asks.

'On the contrary my lord, they were able to kill it' Pina's eyes widened at that statement, the rest of her party were speechless as well.

'Impossible…' the young man form the party stated.

'That is what I would think as well if not for the parts of Fire Dragon that they brought with themselves. The beast was utterly annihilated, his head, torso and one arm and leg took by men in green and the rest was left for scavengers to collect.'

'Just how were they able to kill it?' Pina asks, she collected herself and started to gather as much information as she can. And enemy who can actually kill Fire Dragon is not laughing matter.

'All we have are from villagers who were present there, and their messages sent to relatives that live here. Apparently, they had under their command flying iron birds that attacked Fire Dragon with fire.'

'Fire birds?' Hamilton asks.

'Yes, two types of them. One was big one that could stand still in the sky, as I heard they transported wounded villagers with it back to Alnus. And the other was so fast that not many people saw it flying over them. But it is that fast bird that killed the Dragon, its weapon so powerful it threw everyone present there on the ground' there was nothing else but quite and shock among princess and her knights. It is very hard to believe such news, even if multiple people testified it as true. This enemy was quite powerful as they expected, the scales have increased again now that they know they can kill one of the most powerful beasts in their world.

'I will tell you now something free of charge, a friend's advice' waitress declared so.

'Advise?' Pina asks.

'I can see that you are imperial knights and you are probably on a mission of gathering intelligence. These men in green are without a doubt very powerful foe, but they also seems to be honorable and chivalry. They did protect a convoy of villagers free of charge, and afterward took all of them and offered them shelter in their base. Word is that they built them a town to live in.'

'So what are you suggesting?' Old man asks.

'Maybe you should try talking to them, forge some kind of truce and try to live with them in peace? If they are indeed good as everyone is praising them, I am sure they will accept your offer' the young waitress stood up and returned the borrowed chair to its table. 'In any case I will get the drinks now, thank you my lords once again' she said and head over to the bartender.

'Grey, what do you think about this?' Pina asks the old men.

'Well if they are that much powerful then we should indeed look for peaceful resolution of the conflict.'

'Are you suggesting that Empire surrenders Grey? And you call yourself an imperial knight?' young men asks.

'Norma, there is little option on the table when you face powerful enemy. Just see our enemies thus far, most of them were too weak to oppose us and they decided to reintegration into Empire rather than to face annihilation. I would like for us to at least try to establish peaceful relations, if we are lucky and they will allow us to stay independent.'

'A dire option indeed Grey… But let us investigate a little more before deciding what to do next' Pina then looked toward Hamilton. 'What is the nearest town?'

'Italica my lady, its two days riding west form here.'

'That is also the city from which these rumors came?'

'Yes my lady, many relatives of families saved by men in green live there. The city also sent several merchants to men in green town that these villagers now inhabit.'

"So they gave the city planned for them to these villagers, for what purpose? To perhaps play on the card of honor and allow themselves easy access to the land, whoever is leading these men in green is opponent not to be underestimated…" Pina thought.

'Is everything fine princess?' Grey called out for her and she jolted from her line of thoughts.

'Alright, so we are heading to Italica in order to gather more information on our enemy. I will reach conclusion once we know more.'

'Understood' all of them acknowledged their orders at once. The very next moment waitress came back carrying 4 beers which they drank with enjoyment.

Alexei is walking down the corridor inside main HQ building. He is reviewing the newest reports from home and from recon teams sent to scout the area around hill. A week has passed since they arrived with villagers in the main base at Alnus Hill. Troops stationed there were surprised to see that they have visitors, but they welcomed them with open arms. Villagers were stunned to see the size of the base. Many of them were also amazed by wall of tanks rounded up near hangars. The only one who was not amazed or happy at all was Pavel. As soon as Alexei stepped down from his truck and head toward main HQ building Pavel appeared, to say that he was surprised was quite an understatement.

'What is this?' He asked Alexei, pointing out to villagers. Alexei turned around and looked at them before turning back to Pavel.

'Refugees' Alexei said with slight smile on his face, a smile that made Pavel even more worried and mad. He could not believe what his commander is saying.

'Refugees?'

'Yeah… refugees… Do you have any problem with this comrade colonel?'

'I don't, but the bosses back in Moscow are going to freak out.'

'Believe me Pavel, they might not like it but if they want more money from the west they will keep quiet and accept it. Besides, I am sure Ivan will make most of the situation.'

'You may be right about that but Ivan is not God you know…'

'I know that Pavel…' Alexei started but he is cut be Pavel midsentence.

'You don't Alexei. Otherwise you would make decisions based on logic and political balance, not pure emotion' Pavel observed some of the villagers Alexei brought and sighted. 'But what's done is done. I guess it's better for this people to be under our care than to try their luck in the wilderness. Let me guess, you are thinking of giving them permission to live in the town we build for the troops?' Alexei didn't reply, he just faintly smiled 'I guessed right. Good thing we brought extra resources, do you want me to order our engineers to extend the city?'

'Please do Pavel. I am sure our comrades will have no problem in allowing refugees to live in houses we built for them.'

And they really didn't have any issues. Most of them were living in barracks for quite some time. Having your own house was nice but they all agree that waiting for few more days is nothing compared to what these homeless people have endured. Alexei's way of thought now shifted to another big event that happened that day, right after he agreed with Pavel on how and in which direction to restore the city.

'Alexei?' In a middle of conversation he could hear female voice behind his back. He turned around and saw Rory standing behind him, her now famous smile never leaves her face.

'What is it Rory? I am in a middle of important business here.'

'I can see that, don't worry. I will be quick' she extended her right hand. 'Give me your hand, any will do' Alexei raised his left eyebrow to girl's request. He doesn't sense any malicious intent in her request but this does not seems right to him. Nevertheless, he extends his left hand which Rory embraced.

'Comrade General… what are you doing?' Alexei turns his head to his right only to see Nikolai. He is clearly confused at this entire situation.

'It's ok comrade Nikolai, she is a friend' Nikolai looks at Rory.

'I don't know… she looks at your hand like she is going to eat it.'

'Don't be ridico… AAAAAAAAAA!' Alexei shouted as Rory bite his hand and sucked a little of his blood. She let it go few seconds afterwards.

'Hm….' Rory licked her lips in satisfaction, 'young and sweet… I like it' She smiled. Nikolai draw his pistol and points it at her.

'Stand down lieutenant, I am fine…' Alexei stopped it, he can see bite marks but doesn't sense anything wrong with his hand. Nearby soldiers, Natasha and Vladimir rushed to see what is happening.

'Your hand…' Natasha said as she grabbed it and started examining the bite-marks.

'What is the meaning of this Rory?' Alexei asks.

'To show my gratitude for saving my life, and because I find you very interesting, I have decided to form an official contact with you Alexei Kostadonov. You and I are now bound in blood and it will be so as long as both of us live' she declared so.

'Blood contract?' Alexei asks.

'Correct, as long as we are bound by blood any harm that is done to you will be transferred to me.'

'Ridiculous' Vladimir declared so. Others are also looking at Rory. Confused at what she means by it. Alexei decided to try something else. Using his right hand he unsheathed his standard army knife and cut himself above bite mark. Not too much to cause actual harm but enough for blood to start flowing out.

'Alexei, are you mad!' Natasha shouted, but she went silent as soon as she saw the newest development.

'My God…' Alexei said as he saw the wound he just made regenerate itself. Not even a scar was left in her place, even the blood returned to the body before the wound shut itself. Alexei then looked at Rory who raised her left hand to show a fresh wound on the same place he cut just moments ago.

'Are you now convinced in validity of our contract?' Rory says as she can see confusion in Alexei's eyes.

'But…why? Why would you do this?' Alexei asks.

'Huh? What kind of question is that?' Rory express her dissatisfaction. 'I did it because you have saved my life yesterday. And because you are generally interesting guy, I haven't met someone as interesting as you in ages.'

'I see…' Alexei once again looks at his left arm, still amazed at how his wound healed instantly.

'I should tell you that there is a price for forming a contract with me.'

'A price?' that sparked interest in Alexei as much as in nearby troops that were listening.

'Our bond is also bond by souls as much as it is by blood. One day when you die I will take your soul and deliver it to Emroy' Rory stood there, proud as she has just conquered entire country. Every Soviet soldier who heard that look at Alexei, expecting to see him scared from the news he just heard. But Alexei smiled and pat Rory, she is surprised by his sudden and unexpected move.

'Hey now….' she protested.

'I bet that everyone else would be scared of what you have just said to me now, but I know better. I feel quite honored that you decided to make contract with me, although I would preferred if you asked me first' he got closer to her so that she could hear him clearly. 'I would hate to see something happen to you just because we share this contract now.'

'Don't be ridiculous…' Rory protest, but she just turns her head to side. She didn't oppose Alexei's patting of her head either. Alexei can see the good soul of the young girl that maybe didn't had the choice of becoming the deliverer of death.

'I understand' he stops patting her. 'And I will have to disappoint you as well' Alexei stated and now everyone looked at him with interest as he used his left hand to grab something that is hanging from a small chain around his neck.

'You see, I cannot give you my soul because it already belongs to my God' he shows her small silver cross, attached to a silver chain that is usually hidden because of his uniform. Rory smiled, Alexei can see that she finds this thing rather interesting.

'Well in that case I will simply wait until you die and let the Gods decide. Are you sure that your God will be able to stand against Emroy?'

'Well, he created the universe and protects all of us at all time. So I am pretty confident in his abilities' Alexei says as he hides the cross behind his uniform again. Rory laughed at his statement, but not in mockery but in surprise that men such as him is a strong believer.

'Alright then, once you die one day we shall see what will the Gods decide. Try not to die too soon Alexei' Rory stated and offered her hand to Alexei.

'Likewise Rory' he accepted and they shake their hands, officially confirming contract between them.

Afterwards Alexei decided to give each of the three girls some sort of position in order to validate their staying by his side and not being grouped with the rest of the locals. And so Lelei became cultural experts attached to the Red Army "New World Front" group, Tuka became their expert on Elves and Rory became religious advisor. Not everyone liked his decision initially, but since then their work has spoken for themselves. The value they gathered on the world thanks to these three is invaluable, more than they could ever hope to gain by interrogating the locals.

It also helped the Alexei with his own theories about this world. And today he is in high hopes he will receive answer to one of his burning questions ever since he learned about this world. Alexei finally came to doors of his office. He grabbed the handle and entered.

Inside his office Lelei was reading a bunch of papers at his work desk, Tuka is sitting in one of the leather seats and writing something. Alexei can see that she is learning to write Russian, he heard that elves are not so good at learning but he is happy to see that his supposed "daughter" is doing her best to be as close to her new dad as possible. Rory is lying on the couch, reading some kind of book. Upon closer look Alexei can see that she is reading Bible. It seems that she took some interest upon learning that she cannot have his soul and must research to see if that is indeed true.

Alexei didn't say anything when he entered the office. He just went to his own desk and start working as well. It was now quite the normal situation for all four of them to focus on their task and not speak for hours, despite being in the same room. This time however, the silence only lasted for a few minutes until someone knocked on the door.

'Come in' Alexei said. It was no other than Pavel entering his office. He closed the doors behind himself and saluted Alexei.

'Comrade General' Alexei nods and points him toward free seat in front of his desk. Pavel sit down, not paying attention to any of the three guests in Alexei's office.

'Do you have the reports for today comrade colonel?' Alexei asks.

'Yes comrade general, what do you wish to hear first?' There were few moments of silence.

'The news from home, let's start with how they answered to this situation' this also interested the three girls. They too wanted to know how Alexei's superiors will react to the fact that he took in refuges and sheltered them from any potential harm.

'Well… officially we have received commendations from both comrade Gorbachev and the Party. In addition to that UN and western powers both sent their praise for helping the civilians. They also promised aid for the refuges in terms of food, water and medications.'

'Great to hear, now tell me unofficially how did we go?' Pavel sigh, and tossed the report to Alexei's desk.

'To say that the generals are outraged by what you did would be quite the understatement. I cannot begin to imagine the job you put on poor Ivan's back, but it is only thanks to him and Gorbachev himself that you are still in this position Alexei' Alexei looks at Pavel. This 48 year old men was as much political animal as he was war veteran. Although not quite active in politics as people in Moscow, Pavel was able to maintain his connections from the past. His old friends became quite powerful politicians and generals.

After finishing high school Pavel joined the military and stayed there. He and Alexei were together ever since the battalion was founded. Together they have gone through Eastern Germany, Central Asia and Afghanistan. Pavel is Alexei's men of trust, because of that he became his second in command and it's always either sent on mission when Alexei is not able to go or is given watch over the base when Alexei is out in the field. The men continue to be quite active, despite his years. His completely gray hair, weary face and skinny body are all indicating how mature the man is more than mature for pension. But despite his looks his spirit is still highly energetic and the men and women serving in Alexei's battalion still have high respect for him. But Alexei knew that this will be his last tour before officially retiring, at least it will be quite interesting when compared to previous deployments. Something he can write interesting book about as well.

'I know that Pavel, but I always give Ivan enough ammo to use as a counterattack against them.'

'But that can only work so far Alexei. It seems that with each new situation you are putting more and more pressure in poor Ivan. Tell me, what are you planning to do if one day Ivan cannot contain the situation?' Alexei didn't answer immediately, that gave the impression that Ivan not being able to do anything would mean big trouble for Alexei.

'If that happens one day then I suppose I will take all responsibility for my actions, like a true man should.'

'That is not the solution Alexei. The men serving under you are going to suffer in that case.'

'And that is why I am always making sure to be the only one who is to blame for the actions of our battalion. I would never allow anyone under my command to suffer for my mistakes' Pavel sighed.

'You do know Alexei that your self-sacrifice is what puts everyone else in difficult position as well? Usually the more someone is prepared to sacrifice himself for the community that same community will try their best to keep him safe as well. That is not how it works for everyone but in general it should be like that. Let's just hope it will never come to that, and that also means that you calm down a bit and let the situation settle' Alexei just nod, he respects Pavel's wisdom even if they are not that far apart in years.

'Sounds like politics in your world are complicated and ruthless as they are here' Rory stated.

'Indeed Rory, it seems that no matter if humans are even living in two different worlds some things never change. When we are on that subject' he looks toward Lelei, 'did you finish your research?'

'I did, do you want me to present my results right now?'

'What research?' Pavel asks.

'One that will provide an answer to the question I have been asking myself ever since I learned about humans from this world. Go on Lelei' she nods and puts several pieces of paper on Alexei's table.

'After looking closely at the subject I determined that there is enough evidence for your theory to be correct.'

'Exactly what theory are you talking about?' Pavel asks.

'That the humans from the Empire are descendants of Romans from our own world.'

'What?' Pavel is confused. He looks at Lelei 'Is this true?'

'There are certainly a lot of parallels to draw such conclusion. We humans first appeared in this world some 2000 years ago. In your own world that was the time when this Roman Empire was at its height of power. I can definitely see the parallels: the way how Senate works, the way how Emperor acts, Imperial military strategies, architecture and so on. The similarities are pretty obvious, and even the language is almost similar.'

'It is possible that the portal opened at some time here and the Romans decided to send a Legion to conquer that world. They probably established an outpost or a small city before GATE closed and trapped them there. From there they worked hard and forged an Empire we are fighting against today, while in our own world they collapsed over time as they were not able to handle the pressure of increasing crisis. Here they only had non-humans to fight originally and using our own race as a unifying factor were able to survive' Alexei add, Pavel took a few seconds to think about everything.

'It sounds right, but I have one question. What about the Humans from various Kingdoms we faced on Alnus? Where do they fit in the grand scheme of things?' Pavel asks Lelei.

'Not all humans are part of the Empire, even if they originally started like that. Many decided over time to leave the Imperial lands and settle up somewhere else. The Emperor allowed for such things as that would further spread human dominance and create new human settlements all over this land. Many of those settlements grew over time and became powerful Kingdoms in their own right. Some wars were fought between the Kingdoms and the Empire but in order to keep the idea of unified humanity unscathed the Emperor allowed for such Kingdoms to exist as vassals of the Empire. Keeping their independence but being required to aid in the Empire's defense in the time of crisis. Like in Alnus Hill battle once your own army advanced on this world.'

''Just how old are you?' Pavel asks after carefully listening to Lelei's presentation.

'I am 15 years old.'

'Damn, so young and so smart and confident. I cannot imagine what you will be like when you get a little older' Lelei got embarrassed over Pavel's praise.

'I am sure that any university in the world will greet her with open arms Pavel. If not here than in our world she will be more than welcome.'

'Excuse me father, but I have a question if I may?' Tuka asks, shifting attention away from Lelei. Lelei seems grateful as she is not comfortable with being praised that much.

'Sure Tuka, go ahead.'

'You said that in your world the humans from the Empire were gone long time ago. Just how did they vanish? I find it difficult seeing how much they are powerful here.' Alexei scratched his head, he is thinking about the best way to answer this.

'That is one really complicated question Tuka, as there were many factors that influenced their downfall over time. But long story short – they got overwhelmed by foreign invasions that they were not able to resist due to continued crisis in their own empire.'

'I see…' Tuka seems more than satisfied with the answer.

'From what I also understand is that this new faith also contributed to their fall in your world' Rory says so while showing a book in her hand. Alexei can see it's the Holy Bible she was reading when he entered the office.

'Well… while it is true that Christianity ignited additional instability that brought to the eventual downfall of the Empire, it also in a way prolonged Rome's influence and power by making it into one of the major centers of said religion that continued to be dominant to this day.'

'At least in case of western Catholic Christianity' Pavel add.

'Your religion is very interesting Alexei, so is your God' Rory stated so, she made a moment of silence before continuing, looking at the bible. 'I think this will in the end be the greatest threat to the Empire, even bigger than all of your advanced magic. Or "science" as you call it.'

'How so Rory?' Lelei asks.

'Look at it this way, what is scarier than enemy you cannot beat?' Rory let a moment of silence to pass to give others time to think. 'How about a religion that makes everyone equal? The rich and the poor, human and nonhuman, a religion where the more good deeds you do in life the better will be your chances to enjoy in paradise once you die.'

'A Religion like that…' Tuka started.

'Would bring the Empire to its knees long before any weapon or magic does, as the very citizens of the Empire would turn against current establishment and demand to be equal as nobles. Never mind that nonhumans would join them in order to gain same right as human citizens of the Empire' Rory then look at Alexei. 'Quite the tool you have for devastating your enemy.'

'Yeah… as much as it is efficient tool, destroying the Empire is not our objective here' Rory became bored as she heard Alexei's statement.

'I know, from what I could tell your country does not have an official religion at all. More than that, it opposes such idea.'

'Miss Rory, to be quite honest… If you read more of our history and saw all the bad things religion as a whole brought to Mankind… You would try to tame it or bring its activity to minimum at least' Pavel explains.

'Then why do you follow such religion father?' Tuka asks.

'And in a country that forbids for its officials to be religious?' Rory asks. Alexei stood up and stand by the window. He looks at the soldiers marching in the distance.

'I was a nonbeliever once. People call such persons "atheists" in our world. But, at some point in my life… something changed. I became a believer. I also embraced bad sides of religion as well as good ones. Of course, members of the party would disapprove and my political enemies would love nothing more than to use this in order to take me down for good. And that is why I am keeping my faith as private thing, only people in my battalion know about this.'

'I see that this is something very intimate for you father. I am sorry for asking' Tuka apologized, Alexei smiled.

'There is no need to apologize for that Tuka, you told me everything about you when we talked and it's only fair that I tell you everything about me' after seeing that Tuka calmed down a bit Alexei shifted his attention to others. 'Is that all or do you have any more questions?'

'None at the moment, but after learning about this the battle to claim your soul just became much more interesting. Hihihi…' Rory's attitude toward his soul makes Alexei very uncomfortable.

'I seriously hope you are joking, as much as you are dear to me I would hate to see you locked in eternal combat with God's Angels.'

'You are not putting your bets on me? I am highly disappointed…' Rory expresses her displease at Alexei for still being determined to grant his soul to his God. Alexei smiles, he can sense that there is more to that than simple soul harvest. But he has more pressing matters now, personal issue can wait.

'If you say so Rory, now…' Alexei looks at Pavel. 'Tell me about our new town, is everything fine so far?'

'Comrade General, the town of New Moscow is going great. All of the refugees are housed and our soldiers explained to them how basic things work like electricity and plumbing system. But so far the result are great, the villagers organized and sent merchants to several cities to establish trade links.'

'Good, thank you for your report' Alexei reverts his gaze back to Lelei. 'What did the village chief said? Is everything alright?'

'It is so far. They will need time to get used to new way of life they are living right now, but overall they have everything they need and more.'

'Glad to hear it' Alexei made a pause. 'Now, could you three leave me and Pavel alone? We need to talk about some serious issues.'

The three of them nod and slowly left the room, this has become standard practice by now. As much as they are close Alexei wanted to spare them of all the politics from his own country. The less they knew the better.

'You know, I am kind of sad to watch them leave every time we have to talk about things back at home Alexei' Pavel noted.

'I know that, but the less they know the better. So tell me old friend, how are things back home? What is the current situation?' Pavel look through several sheets of paper, they are filled with statistical reports and diagrams.

'The economic situation is becoming better every day. Only few months have passed since we start receiving aid from UN, EU and the US and things already started changing for the better in some areas. Shelves are once again filed with food and various products and our we were able to actually save some money in our budget this year.'

'That's good to hear.'

'Don't get me wrong Alexei' Pavel threw the sheets to couch, 'it will take years, even decades for our economy to start growing again. If this GATE incident even happened who knows how much more the Union would last. The country went bankrupt cleaning the Chernobyl, never mind everything else including that disaster known as Afghanistan…'

'I know that Pavel, we just have to believe in Gorbachev and his reforms. Eventually they will have to bring some results. Even the yanks are supporting him' Pavel look with disbelief at Alexei.

'You were always an idealist… First of all Gorbachev is too soft to lead the party, if not for Ivan to support him other would use him to get their own gains. And we all know how loyal to their own nations rather than Union as a whole many in the party are right now. And the yanks…'

'Pavel….'

'Just because you have a friend in the US military does not meant that the politicians he serve are all like him. They are as bad and corrupted as our own party members are. They would use any weakness and exploit any crack just to bring us down and set themselves as leaders of the free world. "Free world" my ass when my kids could not pay all the loans I borrowed from the banks just to but every piece of junk they invent in order try to try and sell it to the others.'

In that moment Pavel realize saw that he went too far yet again giving how Alexei is looking at him.

'I am sorry Comrade General. I went too far again…'

'It's alright Pavel, you are realist after all and can look at the situation much clearer. Tell me your personal opinion about my decision with these people?'

'You are still overthinking did you do right thing or not?' Pavel says after few moments of silence.

'I don't know any more Pavel, did my consciousness take over? Did I make the right call?'

'Listen Alexei… from a political perspective that was not the smartest thing you could have done. But if I were in your shoes or any other soldiers from our regiment we would have done the same damn thing. Better to receive political backslash then to let innocent people die' Alexei feels relieve, he takes a deep breath before continuing.

'Thank you Pavel, now let us talk about next issue…' they continue talking for few more hours about various subjects, from politics to economy and finally sport. Meanwhile, Tuka, Lelei and Rory decided to have a walk to the hill overlooking New Moscow just west of Alnus Hill. One they arrived they decided to sit down on flesh summer grass and look at the new city the Soviets have built for them. It was nothing too large, thirty or so small buildings. Each equipped with such wonders as washing machine, running fresh water, lamps, radio etc… The villagers were quite amazed when they were given the permission to live there, they never expected the wonder they find out in their new homes. Lelei can see that the villagers waste no time in expanding the town, slowly building more houses in all directions. Even rebuilding the ones given to them by the Soviets to fit more their own cultural taste, all done under watch of Soviet engineers who are making sure the villagers do not electrify themselves or break a pipe or two while redecorating.

'So, what do you think?' Lelei turn around to see Rory looking at her. Rory's smile as always sends chills under her spine when she remembers who her patron deity is.

'After reading some of the books Alexei gave me and talk with few of his friends, I would say that we were very lucky to get him as a leader of this expedition.'

'You are talking about father?'

'Yes Tuka, he is calm and educated men. From what I could tell everyone else who was aiming for his position would just marched into the Empire's capital and occupied it. Their politicians are as greedy and corrupt as our own.'

'I guess that Humanity does not change regardless of the world they are coming from' Rory states, she look at the New Moscow bellow the hill. 'But at least these ones are offering help and shelter to those who cannot afford it. Empire never showed any kind of hospitality to peasants other than certain individuals, but their actions were their own. In general the Emperor and the Senate do not care about their people, much less about non-humans.'

'Their society was very similar in the beginning as well, but over time they started caring about common folks as well. The very idea upon which Alexei's country was founded is to share all gods among everyone, from their leader to the poorest of peasant' Lelei says so also while looking down at the new city being built. All three of them watched the town in silence, enjoying in a simple manner of watching the daily life of a settlement from distance.

'For all the wonders that they can accomplish humans will always be very greedy and violent creatures.'

'True Tuka, but you must remember that humans are above else victims of their nature. Unlike the elves we do not live forever, nor can we master our emotions as well as you can.'

'That is why I always saw your short lifespan as a burden. It has its own advantages but person can only do so much with so little time.'

'True, but you get used to it Tuka. I am almost 1000 years old, I got used to prolonged lifespan pretty quickly. And it seems it is the natural rule that the less species live the more they can accomplish' Rory said and turn her head toward Tuka. 'For example, look at the elves and humans. One is race with unlimited time to live. Being able to master any art in the span of thousands of years of constant training and can live in peace with nature and prosper. The other has limited time for life of an individual but they are far more ambitious, they master any art very quickly and rather than living in peace with nature they try to bend it to their will. That's how terrifying humans are, and how were they able to master this world despite being the last race to come here.'

'When you put it that way humans sound like monsters' Tuka says.

'They are in a way,' Rory shift her look at New Moscow again' but like everything in the universe they are well balanced. As much as they are evil they can be good, as much as they are greedy they can share what they have, as much as they can destroy they can also rebuild and so on. Humans are perfect beings of balance and that is why they were os successful and why they are favored by the gods of this world.'

'Wow Rory… your exposition really changed my view on humans.'

'It's nothing Tuka, when you live 900 years with someone you tend to know everything about them.'

'I see, thank you' Rory smiled at Tuka who then shifted her attention to Lelei. 'Lelei, can you tell me about the world father is coming from? How much are humans from that world different than the ones who live here?'

'That is a hard question Tuka…' Lelei said after taking a deep breath. 'But I will try to answer you to the best of my ability. But note that this is according to information I have gathered so far, and from what it is available to read in the base library I have merely scratched the surface.'

'Nevertheless go on, I am interested to learn few things as well' Rory rolled around and lay near Lelei. Placing her head on her hands and looking at her.

'Well for starters, humans are indeed the only sentient beings on their world. No other race is as evolved as humans are. And from what I could tell from their history book, none ever existed. '

'It must be nice having entire world just for you, and not sharing it with anyone.'

'Not quite Tuka.. Even if they have entire world for themselves human history is still full of conflicts, it was war after war after war… They have been even bloodier than here.'

'Hmmm… sounds like ideal place for my God' Rory commented.

'Another interesting thing is that their world is entirely explored, unlike our own which we only begun to explore and map fully. They have mapped all their lands and seas long time ago, and as I understood they are now trying to map other worlds as well.'

'Other worlds' Tuka asks, 'what do you mean by that?'

'To put it simply Tuka apparently there are other world right there' Lelei raise her hands and points to the sky, 'among the stars.'

'That is amazing' Tuka says.

'Indeed, imagine what kind of creatures might be living out there. We might get surprised as Soviets were when they arrived here' Rory says as he watches the sky. Half of day already passed and some stars are starting to shine as the Sun got closer to the horizon. The three girls stopped discussing and are just enjoying the quiet sky and nice summer wind.

'So there you are' girls focus their attention on Natasha who approached and sit near them, she is still wearing in her medical uniform. 'Enjoying in the moment?'

'As much as we can' Tuka replied.

'Were you debating about our world again?'

'It cannot be helped, it fascinates us so much that we come here and debate about it few hours after Alexei sends us outside.'

'Yeah…' Natasha's face became little sad after hearing this 'you don't mind that Alexei sends you outside like that every day?'

'We understand that he has important business to deal with that does not include us. And we are alright with that, the politics are after all the occupation of greedy and powerful men. I myself do not care about such things' Rory declared so.

'I see, and how about you Lelei, Tuka?'

'I am only interested in this magic you call "science", as well as in culture of your world. I am a scholar and not politician, so it is alright with me.'

'Magic…' Natasha made a small and quiet laugh when she heard Lelei's comment, she could not help herself. Lelei saw that and start wondering what did she said that made her react like that.

'I am mostly interested in human arts and culture. I have seen some of the pictures in few of the books about art. They are wonderful and I would love to learn more about them' Tuka says while blushing, expressing her love for human expression in artwork they create.

'I am glad Alexei didn't insult you in any way.'

'Please Natasha, we might be living in a society that is primitive to your eyes but even we understand when the situation is urgent. Alexei is your commander and as such have certain political commitments that take priority above everything else' Rory sits down and talk in serious manner to Natasha.

'We understand that Alexei must not be bothered with those things as they are coming from a power higher even than him. And if we are to keep things as they are right now we should leave him to do his job to the best of his possibility, that way everyone will profit as much as they can' Lelei says so in her usual cold manner.

'Sorry if I got you upset…' Natasha starts apologizing but she is pat on her shoulder by Tuka.

'It's alright, father and you and everyone else are such nice people and we are more than happy for everything you have done for us so far.'

'I am glad to hear that guys. As a matter of fact I came to find you because we would like your help about something' Natasha stood up and asked them to come with her. After short walk, not far from Alnus, she led them to the destination designated as "dragon graveyard".

To say that Rory, Tuka and Lelei were not astonished by what they saw would be an understatement. In front of them were the corpses of hundreds of dead dragons, some belonging to the Imperial Army while others belonging to allied nations of the Empire.

'I wanted to ask you about them' Natasha points to the dead dragons, 'is there anything you can do with them? Maybe use their scales for weapons and bones for tools or something. Why are you looking so amazed? You never saw dragon graveyard before?'

'We did but certainly not in such number' Tuka says, still astonished by what she is seeing.

'Besides, we are not amazed in their number. We are amazed at the sheer profit we can earn from them' Lelei says.

'Profit?'

'Dragon scales are very valuable, even from one it is enough to ensure a life of luxury for common citizen. But this… this is a motherlode of dragon scales. We can literally build our own kingdom from all the money we can earn here.'

'Seriously' Natasha asks, 'they are that much valuable?'

'Indeed they are' Rory replied. 'So, now that you know their value what do you plan to do with them exactly?'

'Hmmm….' Natasha stood there and though, and then she smiled. She knows exactly how they will deal with this new situation. Later that day, on a regular evening meeting with everyone, Natasha presented her newly discovered information.

'So basically all those dead animals we piled are worth a ton of money?' Nikolai says.

'That is correct lieutenant. According to Lelei the scales of those little dragons are worth a fortune on local markets as best armors are made from them.'

'And we are giving them all of that for free, why is that comrade general?' Nikolai looks at Alexei.

'To us they have no real value, except to the scientist who already run all the tests they could have. Besides, if we are going to establish a strong trade center in New Moscow we need something to ignite it. Giving how much are dragon scales rare, and the fact that we have several tons of them, everyone will start coming here to purchase them at lower prices. Once they get here they will see the new "stuff" we have to offer them. And I can assure you that they will be willing to trade anything to get their hands on some of it.'

'Damn Alexei, you sound like a drug dealer in some American movie' Sergei says.

'It's basic economics Sergei, you give them something in small numbers and if they like it they will always return for more. And I seriously doubt they will not like the chance to get a hold on some of our technology and goods.'

'Your orders comrade general' Pavel asks, the entire room went silent in that moment as people stood to attention and waited for their commander's orders.

'I discussed this with the village chief already and he said that it would be for the best to take several kilograms of those scales and sell them at the nearest big trade city. Which is here' Alexei points to the position north of Alnus Hill, 'the city's name is Italica and it is the main trade center of this entire region.'

'It is also an Imperial city and I don't feel comfortable over the fact that we are heading to enemy territory' Vladimir says.

'Your concern is dully noted comrade sergeant, and we will take all necessary precautions to make sure we do not get in any trouble while we are there' Alexei shifted his attention to one of the officers. 'Lieutenant Boris, you will take your artillery regiment and position yourself here, lieutenant Nikolai's armored brigade will safeguard your position. We will be in constant contact but you know the drill if any kind of unpredicted situation happens?'

'I know comrade general. Make the sky fall upon them…'

'And then let the mighty stream wash our enemies away' Boris and Nikolai said so, Alexei nodded and shifted his attention to another officer.

'And you Lieutenant Neminov, I want your Mi-24's to stay at the base, in case of emergency load them with troops as fast as you can and fly to our support.'

'Understood comrade general' Neminov replied with a nod.

'Right, I think that MiG's will not be necessary for this mission. And honestly I think that our primary loadout will be more than enough for this mission.'

'That is if nothing out of the ordinary happens' Sergei says.

'Well in that case I have you guys to watch my backs' everyone laughed at Alexei's comment. 'If everything goes well we are back home in two. We are starting our trip early in the morning and we will still need half a day to reach it by car…'

'That's what you get when the car is also followed by slow truck. At least it beat horses and walking' Sergei commented.

'By the way comrade general, who of the locals is going with you?' Nikolai asks.

'Lelei, Rory and Tuka will accompany us on this mission, I asked the Chief as well but with these three already going with us there was no reason to include anyone else.'

'I don't know comrade general… I think that you trust them way too much.'

'Your concern has been noted as well comrade Nikolai, let me just say that I trust them enough to establish trade agreement in our name and not to give them codes for our SS-16's' Nikolai can clearly read the mood that is slowly rising in the room, aimed at him.

'I…. apologize comrade general, I didn't meant any disrespect.'

'It's ok lieutenant, we all have our doubts about our newcomers. But you really should not worry about them as the least they want to do is to cause any harm to us.'

'Plus we did background check for all three of them. They are all who they claim to be, and they are all non-Imperials. Moreover they choose to cooperate with us and the information they gave us so far about this world is worth a lot' Pavel starts reading from a datasheet he picked up from nearby table. When he finished proving his point he threw the sheet back to the table 'Do you perhaps have anything new to add to this that will put a doubt to their loyalty to us?' Nikolai said nothing, he really don't want to get into argumentation with senior officer.

'Pavel please… I understand the boy's doubt about them. They are clearly not the ordinary bunch if you know what I mean. But our option here is limited people. This is new world, filled with possible allies and enemies. And they are so far the only people who offered to assist us, and in the unknown land any assistance is worth more than gold. I talked to them and get to know them better, so I can assure you that we have nothing to fear.'

'If I may comrade general… I think lieutenant is concerned because they were not quite "subtle" about their debates about our world when some of our men can hear them talking' Natasha says.

'You mean their critics about how our country is run? Or how our society is organized?'

'For example, I heard them today talking about how "special" we are in our own unique way and about space travel. While this is harmless and mostly done out of pure curiosity, on a few occasions I did heard them how they critique Supreme Soviet. While I can understand from their point of view it would not be a bad thing to note them that they can also have their discussions behind four walls. Other like the lieutenant here might get the wrong impression.'

'And we didn't do the same for the Empire in their presence?' Alexei paused. He made a sigh before continuing 'but I get it from where you stand. I will have a talk with them about that issue, any other questions?'

Afterwards Alexei went to his own room. It was around one in the morning, and Alexei just put on his pajama and was preparing to lie down and get some sleep. Their mission tomorrow seems like an easy one, but for a veteran like him no mission was easy. Karma always finds a way to make even the most well planned mission into unimaginable disasters. In that situation an cold headed commander is like an angel sent form God to protect all unfortunate souls caught up in that situation. And to be at his best tomorrow he needs a good rest tonight.

But he also needs to do one last thing before he lay down, one last obligation before he is free to enter the realm of dreams. Alexei kneels beside bed and takes small silver cross that is hanging from his neck. He puts his hands together, silver cross illuminating on moonlight. Casting glares of light on Alexei's calm face.

'O father, I hope that you will continue to watch over us just like you did thus far…' Alexei silently pray while in the distance a wolf's howl could be heard, sending clear message that the hunt is on.


	6. Battle for Italica

'Pant...pant…pant…' princess Pina sits down near the entrance to the guard tower and breathes heavily. She, together with town guards and volunteers, has successfully repealed bandit attack aimed at taking control of this section of city walls. If only barely.

Now she is sitting down and resting, her surroundings are filled with corpses from bandits and town guardsmen alike. From the entrance to the guard tower a tall figure of an orderly me emerged.

'Grey' he looks down and sees the princess. She is covered in blood from top to bottom.

'Are you alright princess, any injuries?' he kneels down to check the condition of her armor and to see if there are any cuts.

'I am alright Grey, been fighting these bastards for a few hours at least. We were near breaking point when they retreated. We lost a lot of good men as well…'

'But at least we have survived to fight another day. And from what I am seeing it seems that your armor saved your life more than once. But it is badly beaten. You will probably not be able to use it to full capacity in the next battle' Grey offers his hand to Pina, she grabs it and he helps her to stand up once more.

'Damn, how am I going to inspire these peasants to fight bravely when I am not in the front lines to lead them?'

'That is why you have us, your trusted knights to aid you. By the way, miss Kaine is asking for your presence at the Formal Clan household. She wants to hear full report about what happened today' Pina sigh, she knows that there can be only bad news in her report.

'Understood Grey, organize the men here and let them clean up this mess. I am heading over to Formal household.'

'Yes your highness' Grey bowed in respect before he started to issue order to nearby locals. Pina head toward Formal household, removing damaged parts of her armor along the way. Grey is right, not much of it will be useful in the next battle. She curses to the thought that she will need to stay behind and issue commands from a safe distance. Not a great way to inspire a lot of inexperienced peasants into fighting bravely against an enemy who outclass them in any way possible. She will have to leave that thought for later. right now the little countess needs her.

In the Formal Clan household Pina and Hamilton are sitting right across countess Myui and her caretaker misses Kaine.

'So… the situation is really that bad?'

'Yes miss Kaine, we have suffered high casualties in the latest attack. 270 men lost while we killed only around 60 of them. I am afraid that with our current numbers we will not be able to hold the walls' Hamilton says as she was reading through the reports.

'I see…' Kaine shift her attention to Pina. 'When can we expect your knights to come to our aid?'

'Two more days at best my lady.'

'The bandits will probably attack long before that, is there something else we can do?' Pina can see fear into little countess eyes, she had recently became the head of the house after losing her father on Alnus Hill. She is just a little kid and Pina can see how scared she is.

'Do not worry countess. I will make sure that we hold out long enough for help to arrive.'

'Promise?' Myui asks.

'Of course, you have my word' Pina replies with smile, and then she focus her attention to Kaine. 'If you have nothing else to discuss I would like to rest, wake me up if there is something important.

'Of course princess, you have earned your rest giving how bravely you have fought until now. One of my maids will take you to empty room in the household. We will wake you up as soon as some new development emerges.'

Pina nodded and left the room. One of the maids escorted her to her new quarters and once she got in she undressed in the hurry and ley down. Pina fell asleep the moment she hit bed, she was that much tired. In her dream she finds herself fighting on the walls again. But this time she is not being able to hold it.

As a result she is captured by the bandits who presented her to their lord. Knowing who she is the bandit lord will request ransom from the Emperor, and knowing how cruel her father is she would most probably become his new favorite sex slave. She found herself naked on a filthy bed with bandit lord just entering the tent and starting to take off his clothes. She tries to fight but she is overcome, and just when he started to lick her she is woken up by sudden splash of water on her face.

'Ha…ha…ha….' She pants but realizes that was all just a dream and calms down.

'Were you having a nightmare my lady?' Pina sees the maid that brought her here. She is holding an empty bucket in her hands.

'I did, but it's all over now… Tell me, did you woke me up just for that?'

'Actually my lady, there is a situation at the southern city gate that requires your attention.'

'What kind of situation?'

'I do not know exactly, it's best to see it for yourself my lady.'

Pina got up and dried herself before gearing up and heading toward southern city gate. While walking to her destination Pina noticed that a lot of people were heading toward same destination. It must be something quite major to incite this much attention. Pina thought that it may be another attack but there was no sound of clashing swords or flying arrows. Next thought is that reinforcements came, but that was also not possible as they will still need one entire day of fast gallop to arrive here. Then she thought of possibility that the enemy is surrendering. But that was also thrown down into the water because there is no way that an army of some ten thousand bandits is going to surrender to town with just four thousand people. Mostly of which are women and children.

There was another reason entirely for all this commotion, and Pina waste no time in trying to find out what it was. She arrived at the southern gate some time later and went thought to guard tower to the city walls. Up there she meets Grey and Hamilton.

'Grey! Hamilton! Report!' she shouts at them.

'Ah princess, thank gods you are here. I would wish I have something sensible to report but… You will just have to see it for yourself' Pina looked over the city walls and is astonished by what she is seeing.

There are two strange wagons parked at the front of the city gates, one small land one very large. They are unlike anything Pina have seen so far.

'What is that exactly?'

'We have no idea my lady,' Hamilton replies 'they just appeared out of nowhere few minutes ago.

'Where are the horses that brought them here?'

'The guards who saw them coming here say that they were moving on themselves, there were also very loud noises coming from them until they stopped' Pina is looking at Grey, she is having a hard time believing what he just said.

'That's impossible Grey, unless some kind of advanced magic is in order here.'

'I agree, but I doubt that bandits would have access to such powerful magicians. Otherwise this city would fall on the first day.'

'Then who…'

In the moment the side doors opened from the little wagon.

'Look, there is someone coming out of the first wagon' Hamilton says, everyone's eyes are focusing on that figure that is coming out. There were two of them, little blue haired girl and a blonde elf.

'An human mage and an elf? What could they possibly…' Pina stopped as soon as she saw third figure that was exiting the wagon. It's long dark axe and black clothing were instantly recognizable everywhere.

'Rory…' Grey says.

'What is she doing here?' Pina asks, only to cover behind city walls. She is trying to imagine any situation why the apostle of the god of death would be here. Nothing came to pass, instead she can see Hamilton shaking her and returning her back to reality.

'My lady, what should we do now?'

Pina stands up filled with determination, whatever happens it cannot possible are worse than imminent bandit invasion.

'We will open the doors and let her in, let use see if she is willing to help us' at least that was an idea as there was no indication that Rory was not working with the bandits as well. But apostles are honorable beings that would not do such crimes unless they want to ignite the fury of their gods. So there was that, and that was pretty much the entire logic that Pina choose to gamble her and life of everyone in this city upon. It is a long shot but giving their current situation it's better than nothing.

They went down and stand in front of the city gates, they were waiting for someone to knock. Pina is losing patience, she grabbed the handle to one of the smaller doors and decided to open them she to see what was the three of them doing for so long. As she opens the doors in force, because they were stuck and didn't want to open, she can hear a loud bangon the other side.

In front of her she can see the three girls staring in the ground, worried about what they are seeing. And on the ground Pina can see unknown older men holding his nose and moaning in pain.

'Alexei!' another men, clad in strange markings, approached him and removed his hand to see that damage inflicted by the door blast. He said something on unknown language to Pina and waved to the wagons. In next moment a women, also clad in strange clothing, rushed toward them. She can see that she carries some sort of bag and on her right arm is clearly noticeable white parchment with the Red Cross drawn on it. Just who are these strange people…

'Is this how you greet people in your city?'

'Huh?' Pina is confused as the three girls asks her questions.

'Do you open suddenly open doors to everyone like that, not carrying if they are injured or not? The elf girl protests, Pina can see that she is angry. And looks on Rory and that human mage were no better either.

'I can explain…' Pina stopped in her tracks as she saw that the apostle's nose started bleeding.

'Damn it…' she noticed it too and started to clean it. 'Ouch!' she yelled as the pain just got worse. Pina throws a glance to the old men only to see that he is alright and is slowly being raised from the ground.

'Do not touch it, let me look' the strange women starts examining Rory's nose. She starts applying some sort of liquid put of some strange white thing that looks like cotton. 'Here, this will make sure the blood will stop, luckily it is no broken.'

'Well? Aren't you supposed to say something?' the little mage girl asks Pina.

'I….I…I am terribly sorry and I apologize!' Pina bowed down in shame, how could she be so senseless to hurt someone like that. And the person who has formed a contract with apostle no less, as that is the only explanation she has for what she witnessed by now. But what kind of a men is he when apostle herself is forming a contract with him?

Her line of thought is interrupted by something, some warm feel. Her face turns red when she realizes that someone is petting her.

'It's ok little girl, you didn't do it on purpose. Nobody is hurt so there is no need to feel so bad' it was a gentle voice of old men, trying to calm her down, except it's having opposite effect on her because of her status as a princess and a knight.

'DON'T TOUCH ME!' Pina yells and jumps away. To her surprise the old men is shocked by her action, the people around him as well. 'S…Sorry but…' Pina took a moment to calm down. She regained some of her confidence and continued talking 'that was inappropriate action as I am not a kid.'

'You're not? But you cannot be more than 20 years old, in my books that is still too young for anything.'

For the first time in her life Pina didn't had idea what to say, the old men's logic is irrefutable in that kind of sense. Still, she is an imperial princess and must let him know of her position. But she simple does not have the strength to say anything, and she has no idea why.

'Pardon me good sir' Grey stepped in and slowly pushed Pina aside, steeping in as an official negotiator. 'My lady here got a little confused. She is not used to being called a child.'

'I see… my apologies then miss' Alexei apologized and bowed, that made Pina feel even more uncomfortable than usual.

'No harm done, why don't you and your companions step inside?' Grey called them in and stood aside Pina and Hamilton. Beside three girls several more people entered inside, their appearance made everyone interested in who were they exactly.

'Allow me to introduce ourselves, my name is Grey Co Aldo and this here is princess Pina Co Lada and her page Hamilton Uno Ror' all three of them bowed to greet the strangers.

'Princess?' the old men asks.

'Indeed, lady Pina is fifth child of Emperor Molto Sol Augustus of the Empire. She is also a leader of Rose Order of Knights' Alexei knew in that moment that he was seeing as a child and immediately regrets his actions.

'I am sorry if my previous action caused any ill will…'

'It's alright. I can tell that you had no ill intention. Now tell me who you are exactly and what are you doing here?'

Alexei inhaled deeply, because no matter in what light he presents himself and his men there will be some tension in the air afterwards.

'My name is Alexei Kostadinov, general of the Red Army and overall commander of Soviet forces station on Alnus Hill' the very mention of that place strike fear into the heart of Pian and everyone around her.

'Y…yu….you came from Alnus Hill? Hamilton asks, pointing at them while shaking.

'Yes we did, but we are not here to cause any harm or to start any fighting.'

'Then why did you come here?' Grey asks.

'We came here to offer trade agreement to the rulers of this city, but it seems that you are in some delicate situation here' Alexei noticed how tired out all of them are and how locals are armed for conflict. Grey looked at Pina, she nodded and Grey continued.

'For the last three days this city is under attack from local bandits, they are the remnants of the Imperial Army that was sent to destroy your forces. They pillaged local villages and are now descending on the last remaining city in the area' Grey explained the situation to Alexei, both him and Pina are counting on his support to save this city. If the rumors about them are true they will assist. Alexei turned around and looked at the both Natasha and Sergei, both of them nod while Vladimir sighs. This is going to probably be yet another simple mission turned into some kind of battle.

'I would like to talk with this city's ruler about this issue.'

'We will arrange it, if you would follow me…' Grey started walking. Pina and Hamilton join him while everyone else followed them. He led them into Formal family household, to say that maids were surprised with the new arrivals would have been an understatement. But at least it seemed that they know who Rory is and respect her a lot. When they entered the main room miss Kaine approached Rory and bowed.

'Your holiness it is an honor…'

'The pleasure is all mine miss Kaine, it has been a while.'

'Indeed it was…' Kaine throw a quick look at the strange new arrivals. 'Who are these strange people that accompany you?'

'Actually, it is me accompany them.'

'What?' miss Kaine is quite surprised to learn that. She never expected apostles of willingly following someone, especially if that someone is just an ordinary human with no special powers.

'See the men with the half greyed hair? I formed a contract with him.'

'I see… he must be very interesting person then, you haven't formed contract with anyone in centuries.'

'He is more interesting than you realize. Just watch him.'

'I see…' miss Kaine approached Alexei and bowed. 'Welcome to out noble household, I am sorry that we are not able to greet you more formally.'

'It's alright ma'am, giving your current situation it's understandable. Now, I would like to talk with the ruler of this city if that is possible.'

'Oh course' miss Kaine walk to the other side of the room and opened doors. From them came a little girl, to the surprise of Alexei and others. She bowed to them and sits at the biggest chair in the room.

'My name is…' she is a little shy and has trouble talking 'M..Myui Fo…formal… nice to meet you, please sit down….' Soviets where just looking at her, she is starting to feel much more uncomfortable. 'Ugh….'

'A child… a fucking child…' Sergei says, shocking everyone in the room with his language. Even his own comrades are stunned, except Alexei who just continue to look at her.

'Sergei….' Alexei started.

'Alexei it's a kid, they put a kid to run a fucking city!'

'Sir… please… You must understand that this is how things are done here. Countess Myui is the only rightful heir of our count who got killed together on Alnus some time ago. There was nobody else to take that position…' Kaine stars to explain thing to ease tensions but that explanation just irritated Sergei even more.

'That is not excuse. You could have form a council or let someone else take the position in the meantime…'

'Sergei…'

'I mean, you put a burden of political games and city management onto a child? Children should play, have fun and learn in her age, not be given such commitments.'

'Sergei!' Alexei shouted, Sergei cleared his throats and backed off.

'I am sorry comrade general, my bad…' Alexei throws him sharp angry look before he faced Countess again.

'My apologies, as you can see some of my soldiers are very emotional when it comes to protecting certain things.'

'It's alright' Myui says and then looks at Sergei, 'I am only sitting here as an official representative so that my family is not replaced with someone else. Miss Kaine and her people are the ones who manage everything until I get old enough to do it myself. So you do not need to worry mister, I am getting my fair share of childhood life' Segei smiled and nodded. 'Now please, sit down mister' Myui pointed to the set of chairs, Alexei sat on the middle, Sergei and Vladimir to his left and Natasha to his right. Across them are madam Kaine and countess Myui and to their left, on a sofa, are Pina, Grey and Hamilton. Tuka, Rory and Lelei took another sofa and sit across imperials. On the middle is one giant table with city map on in.

'State your business, why did you come to our city' Kaine asks.

'Your city is closest one to Alnus Hill and we came in hope that we will be able to establish trade agreement with you. Our new town called New Moscow is nearly finished and we were looking to establish trade agreements to get it started.'

'I should also add that most people who live in that town are survivors of Fire Dragon raids across this countryside. The town was initially build for their soldiers but they gave it to refugees who have nowhere to go' Lelei cut in and added explanation in order for the rest of them to better understand Soviets. Alexei and the rest of his men said nothing. They decided on their way here that it's for the best to let Lelei be their official translator and ambassador. It was after all for the best to let someone with vast local knowledge to present them, that way they would gain more trust from the people of this land.

'You really gave those people place to live?' Hamilton asks.

'Yes we did, they had nowhere to go ad that was the least we could do' Natasha answers.

'That is highly noble of you' Pina says, clearly impressed by their sense of honor.

'All soldiers from our world follow a… let's call it code of honor mixed with rules of warfare. No soldier is to shoot a civilian, no soldier is to left civilian to his fate and no soldier is to kill unarmed enemy unless he wants to face punishment as dictated by the law. It's not perfect but we try to uphold it as much as we can' Alexei answered, afterwards he focused his attention to Kaine. 'The elderly gentlemen Grey told us that you are having some bandit problems' Kaine took a deep breath. This will not be an easy thing to explain or an easy request to make. Pina knew it as well, no matter what happens in the end they will be in debt to this people, their official enemies.

'It all started three days ago, a bandit army of ten thousand plus men sieged the city for two days before they retreated. They will probably attack again in an attempt to take this city before reinforcements from Imperial Capital arrive. So far we were able to hold them thanks to military expertise of princess Pina and her knights, but they are far too few in numbers to turn the tide.'

'So please… will you help us?' Myui cut in Kaine's request and asks Alexei. He can see desperation in her eyes. He throws a quick look at Pina, he can see that she is not supporting this 100%. It is natural response from an enemy but in times of crisis, when bigger threat is looming over horizon. Even enemies of old must unite to overcome the incoming darkness. Same was with them in their own world during Great Patriotic War. Alexei stood up and approached Pina, he offered her a hand.

'If you are alright with this Princess Pina let establish temporary ceasefire, the lives of everyone living in this city are more important than our war right now. After all, both sides are guilty for the end results here so it's only fair that we cooperate now to correct that mistake. If you wish we can talk about our relations once the city is secured' Pina is little surprised, this old men clearly had some political experience. By offering her temporary truce right here he will be in a stronger negotiable position if they win against the bandits. But she is driven into a corner, her own knights are still two days away and if she refuse to side with him the people of the city will turn her back on her. She grabs her hands and put a small smile.

'Temporary truce it is, for the sake of this city and its people' Pina has no choice now. But to her this is also an excellent opportunity to see how capable these men in green really are, if all the rumors about them are true than peace is much more preferable to annihilation.

They sit down again and Alexei allowed them to explain the situation to him in detail as well as strategies they have used so far to hold the bandits at bay. They also explained their current situation regarding supplies and manpower. During that exposition Alexei carefully listened to the princess and examined her. He sees a capable commander in her, and a brave one as well. The type who will lead her men into battle from the front lines. He thinks that the old veteran named Grey is the most probably reason why she is like that, that and her self-esteem to do more in life than to be simple princes used for political gains.

Hamilton was mostly quiet but with the few words she uttered he also saw talented individual. But she is probably doing most of the real work behind princess's back, making sure that she is not too heavily burden by her daily obligations.

'That's about it regarding the defense of the city. Now tell me general, do you have any other suggestion we can use?' Pina asks, Alexei looks at the map and scratches his chin. All imperials in the room are carefully watching him, waiting to see what kind of plan he will think off.

'I already have some idea how to win this, but before that I need to ask few questions if you don't mind' Alexei looks at Kaine.

'Very well, I shall answer anything you ask general.'

'First off tell me how many citizens are left in the city.'

'Around four thousand, many have fled as soon as the rumors about large bandit army reached the city walls.'

'Alright… now tell me this: if you use every corner of this household how much people can you fit in this building alone?' Kaine looks at Pina, she is also confused with this question.

'It's a big household… My guess is if we use every room and hallway to shelter people… Around two thousands would be top number' miss Kaine answers.

'Why are you asking this question general Alexei?' Pina asks.

'I case that bandits break through into the city we will need a place to house all who cannot fight. Old, sick, women and children, that soulh not be a problem right Myui?'

'O…of course not' Myui looks at Kaine. 'Kaine see too it that we put as much people as we can into our household, move all the furniture if you must' Kaine bowed.

'As you wish my lady'

'Good, now when that's settled I have one more thing to propose' Alexei points to the map. 'There are four main gate to enter the city, they are probably aware that we cannot defend all of them. So they will concentrate all their might into one of these four gates.'

'That's what I have been thinking as well' Pina says. 'If they were to attack everywhere at once they would sustain huge losses and we would be able to concentrate defense long enough to hold them. Attacking a single gate at night remains their only option.'

'Alright, this is what we will do. We will concentrate most of our fighting force inside city walls. When the attack came all of them will proceed to the opposite side of the city. If, for example, southern gate is under attack then everyone will move toward northern gate while extending the wings of defense partially to western and eastern gates. We will organize main defense here, in the household courtyard' Alexei points to the household on the map, that made imperials a little confused.

'Excuse me general' Hamilton raised her hand, 'but why exactly are we concentrating our defense here?'

'We have big open terrain thanks to the courtyard surrounding the house. There the limited number of my men can do most damage. Furthermore, if we place some barricades here and here' Alexei points to the map' and use oil from city defense to burn them we will create an obstacle they cannot possibly get across. Then the only remaining way for them will be to assault the household directly.'

'I see, and the rest of the city guard and local militia can hold them in the narrow streets. But since they will concentrate most of their army here at us then it should be no problem for them to hold even if they are outclassed. Sounds good but I have few questions if you don't mind general.'

'Of course princess, what do you want to know?'

'With this strategy you are basically letting them take half of the city, is there any reason behind this other than to organize better defense?' Pina is calculating that there is more to this men than what is he revealing so far. Beneath all his manners and acting to be gentle soul is a leader of a people who massacred half of their army at Alnus. Her instinct say that she can trust him but there is just so many unknowns right now that Pina decided to take it slowly and carefully.

'There is in fact' Alexei answered after few seconds of silence, Pina noted that he too is aware that she is analyzing him 'but I cannot explain as you would not understand.' Pina also noticed that his subordinates are looking at him in a strange way. They too are probably aware what he intends to do, and they do not look so happy about it. "Damn, what are you planning to do?" Pina thought, looking at Alexei and wondering how men can put such innocent face and be a scheming military commander. It takes a great beast to master that, maybe that's the reason why apostle formed a contact with him.

'Alright, my second question is who will take the brunt of the attack? With this strategy in mind it is clear that those who will fight in the courtyard will take the most beating' Alexei didn't said anything, Pina just wanted that confirmation. 'You and your men will, huh?'

'But of course, we may be just 29 strong but we are highly trained veterans so that should be no problem for us. Where will you be princess?'

'I... I haven't decided yet… But I will be on the first lines when the attack starts…'

'I want you to abandon your post and pull back all your men as soon as you see them attacking' Alexei says, leaving Pina quite confused.

'What?'

'As I said we will take the brunt of the attack, in that case there is no need for you to fight at the city walls at all. So as soon as they appear retreat to the household at our position.'

'But why would I…' Pina stopped, she understand it perfectly now. 'You want me to guard the household so in case if you all get killed we will be last line of defense for the people in the household.'

'Exactly' Alexei smiles, he is glad that Pina is getting things quickly. He is wondering how different the things would have been if Empire didn't attack them and they were allies instead. But who knows what tomorrow will bring, there might be even a chance of peace after the battle is done. But all of that remains to be seen. First they must win this battle.

'But… you will be overwhelmed and killed… 39 of you against 10.000?' Hamilton says. Everyone can sense worry in her voice, which surprised everyone giving that Empire and them are enemies. Alexei stood up. his own men did so as well.

'We are soldiers of the Red Army, it is our duty to protect and serve the motherland. As soldiers it is also our duty to offer our hand to everyone in need of protection. Our moral code is such that it is better for million us to die than to let a single innocent life be lost. Our politicians may disagree with our way of thinking, and they would probably tell us to leave you to your fate if they were here. But they are not here, we are and we will go to help you see thought this battle' Alexei bowed in front of Myui. 'If that is all countesses I will not prepare with my men for battle.'

'Of course, you are free to go general Alexei' with that said Alexei, his men and the three girls left the room. As soon as they have left the imperials started discussion of their own.

'So what are your impressions?'

'I must say princess that I really like him, if we were not enemies I think that the two of us would go along just nicely' Grey says.

'I saw that he has the respect of him men and the respect of that mage, elf and apostle herself. That alone is enough to tell me what kind of men he is' Hamilton says.

'All of them seem like nice people, if the rumors about the mare true than there is chance for our town after all' Myui says.

'And what about you princess Pina, what is your impression of these Red Army soldiers?' Kaine asks. Pina was silent for a few moments, breathing deeply.

'They seem like honorable lot if rumors are anything to go by. And their commander…' Pina made a pause. 'Their commander is so mysterious character, if we were not the enemies I would love to sit down and talk with him for a few hours.'

'I see… if you allow me I would like to tell you one thing princess' Kaine says. Pina nods, she is also interested to see what the old lady has to say to her. 'I think that after this battle is done and they really help us survive this situation it will not be a bad idea to try and push for peace talks.'

'I see where are you coming from miss Kaine, if they really are strong enough to beat Fire Dragon and bandit army of this size then better to have them as friends rather than enemies.'

'Exactly my line of thoughts princess, their commander seems like honorable and good men. I am sure he will be for peace as well if you were to offer t to him.'

'Why would we offer peace to them?' Hamilton asks.

'Who attacked them first young knight?'

'Hgn…' Hamilton could not answer, she too knew it very well that Empire strike first and now they were reaping what they sow. Pina knew that as well, but what she wanted was a deal that will not hurt the Empire too much, otherwise the cracks will just become bigger and bigger.

'But in the end that is not what you should bother yourself young knight. Right now you should think about this town and its people. Leave politics for later' all of them agreed and started planning the layout of inner defense.

Meanwhile Alexei and the others were taking the equipment form the KrAZ heavy truck. Alexei went in and took a single create that was specially packed. He opened it and went to Tuka.

'Here, this is my gift for you. I wanted to give it when we finish the transaction but giving the situation…' Alexei took a sport bow and present it to Tuka, her eyes filled with tears.

'Father…' she spoke as she took the bow and examined it closely.

'I know it's not what you are used too but it should be ten times stronger and five times lighter than anything you guys have right now. In this fight it should be quite handy.'

'Thank you father, I am really happy' Tuka hugged Alexei. Those made all soldiers around them make a smile as they unloaded their equipment.

'There, there, it's nothing…' Alexei slowly pats Tuka before calling Lelei. 'Lelei?'

'Yes Alexei?'

'Your magecraft… can you project some kind of shield with it?'

'I can, it will not protect against your type of weaponry but arrows and swords will not be a problem for a while.'

'I am not thinking about arrows and swords but debris. Wood, rocks, metallic parts, lot of them… will they be a problem for your shield if it's concentrated in specific area?' Alexei's question got Lelei confused for a moment.

'I…I think I can manage it if the area is not that big. But why are you asking me this?'

'Worry not, I didn't showed you all my tricks thus far' Alexei winked to Lelei before finally facing Rory.

'Tell me Rory, how fast can you move across town?'

'As quick as you need my dear, I can jump over roofs and go from one end of the town to another in moment's notice' Rory took a swing around her axe and enjoyed in her praise.

'Good, so I can count on you to oversee the townsmen retreat to their position and prevent any bandit attempts to cut them off.'

'Understood Alexei' Rory throws a wink at him. Alexei didn't react to it at all and that made Rory pout.

'What about you father? What will you do?' Tuka asks.

'What we have always do, prepare for battle' with that said Alexei stars organizing his own men. 'Misha! I want you to establish permanent link to the field battery. But before that call Pavel and tell him to get all Mil's ready for combat deployment and filled with sodiers.'

'Understand comrade general!' Misha shouts and starts working on his communicator.

'Vladimir, Natasha and Sergei, come here!' the three of them gathered around Alexei as he took out a map of the city and starts drawing lines on it. 'Now listen here, we will deploy our entire force here and…'

Preparations lasted for several hours, by the time they were finished it was already pass three in the morning. They put as many women, children and old they could in the household and the rest were relocated to as close to the household as they could, instructed to move to the part of the city that was marked as safe in mere minutes. Every house was left empty, many didn't want to depart from their belongings but the nature of their situation made them clear to prioritize things. The night was mostly calm up until four in the morning. That was when the bandit army came, the unleashed wave of arrow on the eastern gate and charged at the city walls.

'Eastern gate!' one of the sentries stationed there shouted. Pina who was near western gate could hear it clearly even from that distance.

'Easter gate huh? They sure picked the entrance… What about other gates Hamilton?' Pina asks.

'So far nothing, it's just like he said. They are concentrating all their attack on single entrance.'

'Alright, send a messenger to every captain. Tell them to redeploy their forces according to our plan if the enemy attacks the eastern gate.'

'Understood' Hamilton starts running and issuing orders to nearby soldiers. Grey stand next to Pina.

'So, we will soon find out for fierce our enemies from the other world truly are.'

'Indeed Grey, and for the sake of everyone here I do hope the rumors about them are true.'

The entire town guard and local militia forces retreated from eastern part in the city while all the remaining civilian population relocated to the western part of the city. Barricades they made from southern gate to the household fence were put on fire, as well as every house that was in the barricades path. Creating a wall of fire that divided the city in half. The bandit leader entered the city and happily ordered his men to start plundering. It didn't take long for him to notice something strange.

'Where are the defenders? Did they decide to run away?'

'Lord!' one of his scouts run toward him.

'Report! Where are the cowards?'

'My lord, they… they created the wall of fire and divided the city in half.

'What?'

'They even set boiling oil on fire in towards that stand above southern and northern gates. There is no way we can get across to the other side' bandit leader looks at him, wondering what kind of madness are they doing.

'They left us half of the city, but for what purpose… '

'My lord, they did leave one path opened for us.'

'Where?'

'The Formal Clan household, it seems this is where they decided to make their stand.'

'Hmmm…..' bandit leader thought for a moment. Very clever of their opponent to create a single narrow passageway so that their smaller numbers could do the most damage, but in his eyes that was useless as there were only few knights among them while most of his army is made of medium armored infantry men, several heavy knights and few brutes. He also has a mage that can reflect any arrows fired at them. He is smiling, for the time has come to crush the defenders. 'Rally all the men, we will attack them with all our power at the center.'

'Yes my lord!' the men around bandit lord cheered as they went to organize their men. Bandit Lord look toward household and made a malicious grin.

'Princess Pina… you will be nice collection to my slave harem. Even if your cruel father wants to pay for your release I won't do it.'

'So it is true that she leads the defenders' one of his lieutenants approach him.

'Yes, and she proved to be quite good tactician. I cannot imagine the trouble we would have if she had her knights or Imperial Army beside her.'

'Yeah, but luckily for us all she has are scared peasants. Once we send our heavy infantry at them they will ask for mercy.'

'I also heard that all her knights are females… So you, my friend, can take all of them but leave the Princess to me. She is all mine…' lieutenant made canister smile as well, he could already "taste" his prize.

'As you wish old friend' and with that he rode away, to organize his men as well. Bandit lord resumed his attention at the household.

'Tell me princess, just what have you in stored for us… Whatver it is I hoep it will be good…'

'My lord!' another scout just rushed to him. 'I have troublesome news.'

'Speak!'

'As you instructed we also tried to get on the southern walls and strike them from the side. But as soon as our men got a decent foothold on the walls the they were erased in a moment nad ladder that we used to go up were cut down at the top, rendering them unusable.'

'What? How did this happen?'

'My lord… several of the men reported seeing dark figure moving around our men in inhuman speeds. They also reported gigantic dark axe, which can only mean one thing…' bandit lord eyes widened.

'Rory Mercury…' her name alone strike fear into bandit lord. He didn't expected for apostle of the God of Death to be here.

'What are your orders my lord?' the scout asks, bandit lord got really irritated by it.

'You fool, we will press out attack. No matter if they have Rory the Reaper. We will just crush her under our numbers. Gather the man and let us start marching toward the household, the sun has risen and their reinforcements are getting closer and closer. We must defeat them as soon as possible. Go now!'

'Yes my lord!' the scout run away, bandit lord took one more look at household at distance.

'Soon princess, soon…' he mumbled to himself '…soon….'

At the entrance to the household Pina and Grey just went outside to meet Hamilton.

'Is everything ready?'

'Yes princess, the fire wall is up and it will be some time before it is extinguished. We have bought ourselves at least a day before all oil is out.'

'And what about the civilians, were they successfully relocated?' Grey asks.

'Yes Grey, we moved all of them to the edge of the western wall just like general Alexei instructed.'

'Good' Pina says and throws a look at men in green. They were deploying for combat in front of the household. All 39 of them formed three lines, the first one is lying, the second one crouching and the third one is standing. 'That is one strange formation, and they lack shields' she observes.

'Maybe they do not need them at all' Grey commented.

'What are you saying Grey? Without shields they are going to be overrun in seconds after bandits gets close enough to them.'

'Think about it princess, all reports about our defeat at Alnus tells us that we never got even close to the hill to fire our arrows, never mind anything else. It seems that their way of fighting does not involve swords at all but those strange weapons they have. It's quite possible that they don't need shields anymore as they stopped using swords some time ago.'

'So you are saying that they only have to keep their distance and they will win?'

'Seems like it, that is why they choose this area to fight. Plenty of open cover on all sides, it seems that whatever those things are they are made for range combat only' Pina looks at them and analyze the situation as well.

'You think that's how they defeated us?'

'Quite possible, whatever the truth is we will see it in a moment.'

'Your orders my lady' Hamilton asks, few remaining Rose knights behind her with their swords at the ready.

'We will do as agreed' she looks at the men in green, 'if they get defeated we are the last line of defense.'

'Should we assist them if the enemy gets to close?' Hamilton asks again, but this time there is uncertainty in her voice.

'Of course, we did form temporary ceasefire. I don't think anyone will mind if we ally with the enemy to defeat bigger threat. Be prepared to give the men in green assistance when they enter close combat.'

'Yes my lord!' knights Rose shouted and drew their swords. They formed a line at the entrance to the household, few meters behind Soviet battle line. Lelei and Tuka are also there, both preparing for battle. Lelei practicing her chants for the shield Alexei requested and Tuka closely examining bow before being prepared to use it. The sun has risen some half an hours ago and sometime afterwards Rory arrived at Soviet lines.

'Is everything alright?'

'It is Alexei, I had little work to do at the southern gate but nothing major. All of them will strike here as we destroyed their remaining siege ladders.'

'Good work, now stay behind us and stick to the plan.'

'Don't worry, I will. I had my fair share of fight last night. It's only fair that you get yours' Rory said so and stood behind Soviet lines, right in front of Pina's knights. Lelei and Tuka took their positions beside them as well, now it all dependents the Soviets and their ability to hold the line.

'Princess I was silent until now but I must protest' one of the younger knights raised his voice, he sheeted his sword and stand before Pina 'this plan is insane and so are they. Just 39 of them against 10.000 bandits!? I say that we take our chances and negotiate with the bandit lord while we still have our necks connected to our bodies' Pina stood there confused. It's not that the thought never crossed her mind but she is thinking of the consequences of their surrender to the bandits. The thought of her becoming a slave also crossed her mind and she doubts that her dad would even bother to pay ransom for her. But Norma has a point, if they resist to the bitter end it will only result in bandits slaughtering and raping everything living in the city. To her the men in green are still the best bet in getting out of here alive, and they even have support from one of the apostles. But will it really be enough?

'Young men, would you allow me to tell you something about the Soviets, or the men in green as you call them?' Norma turns around only to see Rory standing beside him, he nods to her to continue. 'When I met them they didn't register as a threat at all, they were escorting villagers and generally having fun with them. To me they seemed like traveling group of humanitarian entertainers rather than soldiers. And then the Fire Dragon came…' that sentence caught the attention of all around her.

'They really fought the Fire Dragon?' the new voice surprised everyone as it was little mistress of the Formal Clan, rushing outside and joining the defenders. Much to the annoyance of lady Kaine and several of her maids who followed her, everyone else also felt uneasy as the kid that is 11 years old should not be on the frontline. All except Rory who smiles and continues her story and little Myui who is listening to her with full attention.

'When the Fire Dragon attacked us we didn't think that they would do anything so we decided to strike it first. That is when Soviets first destroyed one of his wings, crushing him to the ground, and then Alexei saved my life by throwing me aside when dragon unleashed his firing breath. After that the fool actually drew dragons' attention and faced him alone.'

'He faced him alone?' Pina asks, surprised to hear the feat of that old men. She already suspected that he is more than he represents but this level she did not expect.

'Indeed, the dragon was ready to deliver final strike to him. And then… it was destroyed.'

'W…what do you mean destroyed?' Norma asks.

'Exactly what I mean, destroyed, obliterated, killed, dissected… whatever you like to call it the meaning is the same. Fire Dragon was destroyed in front of our eyes with such power and so fast that I was left speechless. That is the real testimony of their power' Rory throws her sinister smile, 'so you do not have to worry about them. If the great beast of the air was defeated so easily then an army of bandits will be like trying to cross really shallow and calm stream.'

Everyone just stood there silently. Still unable to believe that mighty beast of the sky was defeated so easily. And yet here they have word form apostle to give credibility to that story.

'You should not worry. Even if you are officially the enemy they will still fight to protect you. That is what kind of men they are' Leli says.

'I…I see….' Norma says, bowing his head in shame.

'Well you are going to as the attack will begin shortly' Tuka says, taking an arrow and preparing her bow.'

'Formation!' Pina yells and at her command all knights grouped together and formed a line at the first steps of the household. Myui, Kaine and her maids stood behind at the final step, in front of the very entrance to the household.

'Misstress, you really should be inside in a safe place' Hamilton says.

'What use is a ruler that covers behind his subjects? And besides, I want to see the how good are these strangers who decided to help us.'

'Worry not about little miss, me and my maids are more than able to protect her if need be' Kaine says.

'Understood' Hamilton says, pleased that her confidence in Formal Clan leader safety is assured.

'Alright everyone, remember the battle plan and take your shots!' Alexei starts shouting orders to his men, Pian and the others follow this with great interest.

'Grey?'

'What strange language, I never heard anything like it princess' he replies.

'The enemy numbers are much greater than ours, so fire single bullet at the target and use bursts only when they get to the last twenty meters to our lines. Their armor cannot protect them against our firepower so reserving our ammunition will decide the outcome of the battle. Now get ready everyone!'

Soviet troops pull their safeties of and wait the order to fire. For this battle Alexei put everyone in the firing lines except Misha who is sending the coordinates to Lieutenant Boris artillery regiment. Sergei is lying in the middle of the line with his PKM machine gun aimed at the household main gates. Natasha and her medics are in the second firing line to the left while Vladimir and his men are to the right.

Few seconds later the first wave of bandit army charged at them from the front gates. They decided to send lightly armored men first to wear them out before sending in the heavy units. "Very smart" Alexei thought, "but useless in this case".

'OPEN FIRE!'

At Alexei's command the first lien that is lying on the ground unleashed their firepower at the bandits. Sergei brought them down mercilessly with his concentrated fire while soldiers around him place their single shots at the bandits who either move to the side or were going over the small stone wall surrounding the household. When the soldiers in the first line started to reload their weapons the soldier behind them in the second line continue firing. The slaughter only temporarily stopped when Sergei had to reload his PKM, bandits used that moment to push over the pile of dead bodies in front of gate and spread all across the courtyard.

'SECOND LINE, OPEN FIRE!'

Now second line joined the fray, the bandit losses were huge and they were still not even near the 200 meters from the Soviets. But their numbers are still great and they keep pushing toward the household.

'Damn it… what is happening exactly?' Bandit Lord is outrageous. He keeps sending the men forward but with little results.

'We have no idea lord. It seems that our men fall prey to some unknown magic as soon as they enter the yard. We made a little push but we are still far from actually reaching it.'

'Wait, what kind of unknown magic?' now that he thinks about it, those strange sounds seems familiar to him.

'We don't know my lord, we only know that as soon as our men step into the yard they are hit with something and fall dead to the ground. Not even shields are helping us.'

Bandit lord looks at the household, his eyes widened and shiver goes down his spine as he remembers it now.

'Alnus….' Me mumbles and remains stunned, looking at the household.

'My lord, your orders?' his lieutenant asks but no respond is given, the bandit lord is just sitting there. Only now realizing in what kind of mess has he dragged his men into.

On the other side, Pina and her knights started to swat. They were amazed at the efficiency of Soviet focused fire. Kaine, Myui and others are also speechless at what they are witnessing.

'T…they are dropping like flies…' Hamilton says, shiver can be felt in her voice.

'Such power, no wonder we were defeated at Alnus' Grey commented, amazed at Soviet deadly efficiency at dispatching their enemies.

'These are the people who defeated the Empire… who occupied Alnus…' Pina is devastated, in her head she is already imagining how useless any tactic or weapon they have would be against them. She wonders how much until they start marching toward Capital and overthrow her father?

Tuka was also making good use of her new bow, being as powerful as he is she shot the arrow high above and hitting bandits who are stacked behind the stone wall. Killing one with every new arrow she shot. Lelei and Rory were just standing there, watching the literal slaughter of bandit army. Rory licked her lips. Every single of their soul is going to Emroy. And that pleases her a lot.

'Comrade General!' in one moment Misha yelled, by that time third line started firing at the bandit army. Alexei turned around and rush to Misha's position. 'Lieutenant Boris just confirmed that they launched entire barrage of rockets from their "Smerch's". One and a half minute until impact!'

'Alright, come to me when the times hits thirty seconds to impact. We need to time this just right.'

'Understood comrade general!' after giving the order Alexei returned to the third firing life. By this time bandits reached some 150 meters until Soviet defense line. Many of them started to use bodies of their fallen comrades as a meat shield to stop bullets for taking them down. Soviets soldiers are also down to their last two or three magazines. The death toll of bandit army rise to above 3000 in these short few minutes of fighting. But still they pressed on, fueled by the desire of looting or falling on battle honorably after devastating defeat at Alnus. Either choice is fine by them since they have nothing else to do than to live the rest miserable life as looters and bandits.

'More and more bandits are pouring across the wall. I can see that they already sent some of their elites to lead them' Hamilton points to heavily armored bandits that can be slight see through the bodies of their less armored brethren.

'Alright, be prepared everyone it seems that they will reach us soon enough' Pina is impressed at how much efficient men in green are, having to fight with so little against so many. They have bought them enough time and killed enough enemy troops that a single prevision strike at the enemy is all that is need to rout them. Her plan now is to let bandits hit Soviet defense line and then she will charge at them with her knights and force them to retreat. Everything afterwards will be cleanup operation, just a little longer and victory is near.

'I doubt that they will reach us' Lelei suddenly spoke, 'Alexei already has something prepared for them. We just didn't saw it yet.'

'And how do you know that little mage?' Grey asks, Lelei turns around to face him.

'He always has some backup plan. That is simply how they function. And he asked me to stay behind and conserve my energy in order to cast a magical shield around the entrance. For what purpose I do not know, but it has to do with some plan that involves destruction of all of these bandits.'

'Now that she mentions it general Alexei did ask me to instruct everyone, who took shelter in the household and buildings near it, to clear from all windows. It may be that he is preparing something' lady Kaine says.

'What could he possibly…' Pina starts asking her question but she is interrupted shortly afterwards.

'Comrade General, t-minus 30 seconds to impact!'

'Everyone, pull back to the household entrance!' At Alexei's command Soviet troops got up and piled up in front of the household entrance. 'Lelei, cast your shield now!'

'Understood' Lelei started her chant and after a few seconds blue shield was created that encircled the entrance to the household and sheltered all Soviet troops and imperial soldiers behind it. Bandits stopped charging the moment they saw that magical shield was up and their enemy behind it, they are just standing there and wondering what sinister thing is going to happen next.

Pina and the others are confused as well, what is he planning to do now? Why the need for shield when they were doing so well against the bandits?

'Lelei, is your shield protecting against sound waves as well?'

'To a certain degree yes, but like with everything else too much of applied force and it will crumble.'

'Understood' Alexei nod to her and gave hand command for crouching, all of his soldiers replied and crouched. Pina and others are even more confused now.

'Wait, what are you doing? Why did you fall back?' she went right to the Alexei and demanded an answer. 'Are you going to surrender? Leave us to our faith?' She asks again, but once again no answer is given. She can see that Alexei is dead cold and he looks like he is expecting something. 'Just what did you….' Pina never finished that question as she was knocked on the ground that started to shake form the sheer size of the impact.

The entire town started shaking, many of the buildings with poor foundation collapsed under the sheer force of the impact. Luckily nobody died as everyone followed instructions from the men in green and stayed outside. The household is built with much stronger foundations so it was left largely intact, except for the windows. Almost all of them broke when the impact happened. Luckily not many civilians were hurt. All they got were minor bruises and cuts, something easily manageable with some water and bandages.

The real shock came to bandits and everyone standing around Soviets at the time of the impact. Alexei requested full barrage at the one of the four points he labeled on the city map. If his calculation were correct the barrage would kill most of the bandit army and leave great number of survivors under the shellshock effect. Making them easy targets for his vastly outnumbered men, in addition to that he will be supported by four gunships that will provide assistance as well as drop additional soldiers from the base. Alexei wanted to end battle in one swift swoop, to negate any possibility of prolonged fighting and to also show imperials the might of the Red Army. He hopes that this will push them to ask for peace talks. That would make his job in this world much easier.

Everyone around Soviets fell to the ground, a natural reaction after seeing the town literally exploding in front of them. Rory lost herself in ecstasy she got form several thousand people getting killed at once, the rest were shocked by what they are seeing. Even Tula and Lelei are shocked, despite earlier seeing how Fire Dragon was dealt with. Pina watched in horror as entire word beyond Lelei's shield is turned into smoking cloud of debris flying all around. Pieces of glass and stone bounced of Lelei's shield that barely survived the aftershock of the impact, finally breaking after one of the last shells that fell to the ground near them sent shockwave that finally broke her shield.

'Ouch' Lelei fell the ground and breather heavily. Natasha quickly rushed toward her to check her life signs.

'Is he alright?' Alexei asks, Natasha nods him shortly afterwards and stars wiping Lelei's forehead with her tissue.

'Man, these "Smerch" pack a lot of punch' Sergei commented, being in awe at how much destruction single barrage caused. Alexei stood up and stand in front of his men.

'AFIX BAYONETS!' he gave the order and starts affixing his own bayonet. His men followed his order. Alexei looks at the imperials, every single one of them is filled with terror. He cannot blame them. They just witnessed huge destructive power. Half the city is probably lying in ruins and it only happened in a span of few seconds. In their world this is the power only gods have, and now they are showing the imperial that they too possess the power of the gods. He sees Pina and note that his impression is complete, she looks at him at terror. She is probably more terrorized over the fact that he and his comrades are not affected at all than by sheer destruction around them.

'Remember the hill 3234! Remember the 345'th Airborne Regiment! UUURRRAAAA!' Alexei shouted his inspirational war cry and charged forward.

'UUURRRAAA!' his men stood up and followed closely behind him, few moments later they were lost in the smoke. Fire if their weapon became live again, even if nothing could be seen through the smoke. Ina stood up, still shaking over the whole experience.

"….Just….just what was that…" she thought as she is trying to calm herself down. "All this…inhumane destruction…." She hears an unknown sound. "…What now in the name of gods?" She thought as she looks above, trying to search for whatever is producing these new unknown sounds.

In that moment the cloud of dust that was above her vanished as unknown iron beast appeared above her and started turning around, spewing fire from its front and sides.

"So this…. Is the power of the men in green…?" She thought as she watched iron beast opening its sides and releasing a set of soldiers via rope to the ground. The soldiers touched ground, readied their weapons and rushed toward Alexei and his men. "They can even drop men from the sky? How can we hope to counter this… inhumane show of force that even gods cannot rival?" she falls to her knees in desperation.

'Princess!' Grey rush and grabs her, he takes wet tissue and clean her forehead from dust. 'Are you alright?'

'How can we…' she started and the made a pause, 'how can we have any hope in fighting this Grey?' He didn't say anything. He just silently cleaned her face as the battle for the city was entering its last phase.

Mere minutes after the barrage were over the battle followed as well. Alexei gathered up surviving bandits with his men and gave them to the town people for safekeeping, except female members of the bandit army as he feared they will be raped in prison by outraged townsfolk. Half of the city is in ruins, many building collapsed due to poor foundation rather than being destroyed by artillery barrage.

Pina, her knights, lady Kaine and Myui are walking through the city streets. Pin throws a look at Soviet troops guarding captured bandits. She can see cold seriousness in their eyes, she is thinking how can someone be so happy and open toward others and so inhumane and cold in the same time? "It's the other world, they must have real hard times there if they are like this" she thought as she analyzed the look of Soviet soldier. His weapon at the ready, his mind at focus and his eyes do not leave his prisoner for a second. He reminds her of their own legionaries, only much more deadly.

'Miss Kaine, what is the damage estimate?' Pina's line of thought is interrupted by Gray.

'Not good I am afraid,' she bowed her head 'more than half of the city is in ruins.

'We won and I do not feel like it, my city….' Myui is on verge of crying. For a household lord it must be hard to see city you care about in such disastrous state.

'Don't be sad, the city will rebuild in time. They saved the population and in the end that's what matters' Hamilton says, patting her on the head.

'That may be true Hamilton, but we are left with scraps after this siege and the level of destruction the Soviets did to this city. Rebuilding will take time and I am afraid many will have to relocate.'

'Miss Kaine, you are talking like you expect that the Soviets will leave you in such state' Gray says.

'Me and miss Myui will deliver them our unconditional surrender, giving how they are the ones who saved us os they should have whatever they want from us. As rules of wars dictate, additionally I do not believe that they will stick here to look at the mess they have caused.'

'They did talk about how honorable they are, if they are still standing by that work they will help you in some way. At least they will pay for reparations' Pina says.

'I really hope you are right miss Pina' Kaine says as they were just entering southern gate watchtower. On top they meet Rory, Tuka and Lelei.

'Excuse me,' Pina asks. All three of them look at her 'where can I find general Alexei?'

All three of them pointed to distance. From the remains of city walls Pina can see Alexei standing alone among the dust clouds.

'What is he doing?' Hamilton asks.

'Waiting' Tuka answers.

'For what?' Pina asks, but received no answer.

'There, they are here' Lelei points toward Alexei just as something started appearing from the clouds. That something stopped in front of Alexei who jump on it and starts having conversation with men who is sitting on top of it.

'What is that now?' Pina asks, confused by sudden iron behemoth appearing out of nowhere.

'It's called a tank, it's basically moving armored fortress that has bigger guns than the one their soldiers are carrying' Lelei explains.

'W…why is it here? Are they planning to annex the city?' Pina is afraid. She has no way to stop them in current condition. Even if her knights were here there would be no difference.

'Alexei called them to come here and protect the city while they undertake reparations' Rory answers.

'Reparations?' Kaine asks.

'Well, father and his men destroyed half of your city while defending it. It is only fair to rebuild it after what was done' Tuka answers. This caught everyone by surprise. Such a feat was unheard of. Even Imperial Army refused to help citizens rebuilt their own city as they were always needed in one place or another. The tank started moving forwards, behind him came another tank that moved left. Then another that moved right. Pina counted at least thirty of them, driving into position around the city with their main weapon aimed to deflect any enemy attack on the city.

After the last tank got into position Pina and others saw a long column of various vehicles, many of them look like something out of most ridiculous epic story told to kids before sleep.

'Ah, the engineering division' Lelei commented, 'they are the ones who will repair your city.'

'Thank the gods…' Myui started crying out of happiness, they will not be left alone after all. On the other hand Pina bite her lower lip, she has no idea what to do next. Now that they proved their firepower to them Soviets can ask for anything in return for peace. Her only hope is that this Alexei will be more than reasonable men, but she cannot leave everything to chance. She must play hard diplomacy and play it fast. This might be the only chance for her to ask for peace in conditions that are favorable to the Empire.

She nods in her self-determination. She will have the peace treaty even if she had to sell her body to Soviets. The future of her country is at stake and she will stop at nothing to ensure its continuing survival.


	7. Aftermath of Italica

They have been riding for three days without stopping. They departed their camp near the bridge that leads to the Capital as soon as princess's messenger arrived. Italica was under attack by army of bandits and princess requested immediate assistance. They went on a full gallop but had to slow down few time so that their horses will be able to perform cavalry charge once they reach the city.

'Bozes' one of the knights asks her comrade at the front of the column, 'It has been three days now. Do you think…'

'No Beefeater, I don't want to hear a single word about that. They are still holding an she is still alive' the blonde female knight with curly hair had said her opinion on the matter.

'Understood, we are near Italica. Should I instruct the men to form a line as we are approaching the city?' the brown hair young female knight asks. Bozes nods her and she lowers her speed and join the knights that are galloping behind them. 'Listen up everyone, we are approaching Italica. Form the horizontal line behind the commander and prepare your lances!'

The knights obeyed the order in disciplined fashion and slowly formed the line behind Bozes. Once they have reached the edge of the last hill before the city Bozes decided to stop. Beefeater joined at her right side.

'The troops are assembled and ready to strike. We may be just 50 strong but once we charge our lancer will cut right through their lightly armored infantry.'

'Excellent, but do not be so carefree. Reports from the scout indicated that they are all infantry units with medium armor. Except few heavily armored men as well.'

'Of course, I just hope that Pina is alright. If they captured her…' Bozes drew her sword.

'Then I will hunt them to the ends of this world, to hell with Alnus and our useless guarding of that damn bridge. Assemble the troops and charge when I do' Bozes start going forward, she will stand on top of the hill and overlook the situation before issuing an attack order. Bozes rose to the hilltop and stand there, Beefeater waits with the rest of the Knights Rose in a line. But the move order never came, instead Bozes is just standing there and watching, some of the knights already start their own theories about what is happening.

'Caty, come here for a moment' Bozes says, Beefeater slowly galloped toward her position. Once she got beside here she could see as well what was happening down below.

Italica was in ruins, some half of the city was gone. And on the outskirts of city were strange iron carriages and what seems like soldiers patrolling the area. They can also see something akin to military east of the city.

'What do you think?' Bozes asks.

'I really have no idea. They certainly do not seem like bandits.'

'If I am to guess, it seems to be the ones who occupy Alnus Hill. Their appearance is too strange to be anyone else' Caty looks at Bozes, fear could be felt in her voice.

'What? Are you certain?'

'Just look at them, there is nobody else in this world with that kind of outfit. To think that they would occupy Italica…'

'This is bad Bozes, really bad. We should have back and summon the Legions.'

'And leave princess to her fate? Who knows what this strangers are doing to her right now…'

'Look Bozes, at the southern gate' Caty points towards the doors that have just opened, the figure that came out can barely be seen from this distance but her red hair was recognized immediately.

'Princess!' Caty shouted. That grabbed the attention of nearby knights who rode beside them to see what is happening.

'I do not understand… She seems fine. She is even talking to the soldiers who surrounded the city' Bozes says.

Pina had a short conversation with one of the soldiers before she walked some distance and waved to her knights who are waiting on the hill.

'She is waving us?' one of the knights asks.

'It seems that she wants us to go down there' other knight replied.

'Your order my lord?' Caty asks Bozes, who thought for a few moments before answering.

'Hmpf… Let us go down there. Hopefully we will have some kind of explanation for this situation.'

And with that said Bozes, Caty and the rest of the Rose Knights rode toward Italica. Once they meet with Pina they dismounted their horses.

'Princess, I am so glad you are alright' Bozes says and hug her, Pina embraced her.

'Bozes, I am so glad you and the others arrived' she releases her before looking at Caty. 'I see that you are here as well Caty, I am glad to see you.'

'Likewise princess' Caty bowed in respect.

'So Pina… is there some explanation why are they here?' Bozes pointed toward several soldiers who were looking them with strange looks in their eyes.

'More than that, why are they looking us like that' Caty asks.

'It's their first time they are seeing great number of female knights. So they are just curious' Pina smiles, that reaction confused both Bozes and Caty.

'Pina…' Bozes started, Pian realized the situation and bowed.

'I apologize. You are probably all confused about the overall situation. Long story short, the Soviets helped us defend against the bandits and they are currently safeguarding and rebuilding the city.'

'The Soviets?' Caty asks.

'That's how they are calling themselves. And yes, they are the ones who currently occupy Alnus Hill.'

'And they are not attacking us, is there any reason to this?' Bozes asks.

'Actually there is, I made temporary ceasefire with their commander in order to save the people of Italica. Now I am making my plans to start peace negotiations. And you arrived just in time to help me with that' her knights looked at her like she is crazy. Few of them even scratched their heads.

'Peace negotiations?' Bozes asks, Pina can sense irritation in her voice.

'It is the only way Bozes to keep the Empire safe. You at this' she points toward ruined city, 'you saw it from the hill. Half of city destroyed. Want to know how? They did it, and it took them only few seconds for this' her knights starts silent discussion. Bozes is speechless. She is unable to respond at all.

'They did this?' Caty asks.

'Yes, they lured bandits inside and then raized half the city to the ground. This is the level of power Empire cannot hope to match. I hate to admit it but it's true. Our only hope is peace negotiations with their commander. I will see that we try to limit their expansion to Alnus Hill alone. That will give us some time to…'

'Princess?' Pian turned around and saw Lelei, behind her is several sodeirs. Fur of them are holding what seems to be two big canisters.

'Yes Lelei?'

'Comrade Sergeant here asks if you knights are thirsty, they have brought them fresh water and several jugs to drink from them.'

'I see. Tell them to put them here' Pina shows to a place right next to her. The four soldiers put the canisters to the ground and opened them. Then few of them proceeded to fill the mugs and offer them to Caty, Bozes and several others. The knights are still confused and reluctant to take the water from the arm of the men who are basically their enemies.

'Drink, you must be quite thirsty after three days of riding' Pina says, and with that Caty and Bozes took the first mugs. Thank the soldiers and start drinking, then the soldiers filled the rest of the mugs and gave them to every knight that approached to drink some water.

'Why are they giving us water?' Bozes asks.

'Is there any reason for them not to give you?' Bozes look at the little blue haired girl with magical wand in her hands.

'But we are their enemies…' Bozes started saying.

'Did you not agree to temporary ceasefire? As far as they are concerned you are not the enemy anymore. You also rushed with all you might to help save this city, they know that as well and because of that they are respecting you' Lelei explains.

'And who are you little girl?' Caty asks.

'Her name is Lelei and she acts as mediator between us and the Soviets, she even understands their language' Pina answers. That made Bozes to look strangely at her.

'And how do you know their language already?'

'I have been living with them for more than half of week now, in their base they gave me access to books about their world while I gave them knowledge about our own' that made Bozes little nervous.

'You are human and by the looks of it you are imperial as well. How could you go and share information with the enemy?'

'Bozes…' Pina started, but was cut by Lelei.

'First of all my people are nomads, we were never part of the Empire and we never swear any loyalty to the Emperor. Secondly, when Fire Dragon attacked our village the Soviets were the only one who came to help us. Imperial Army was nowhere in sight' Lelei replies n her cold, stoic fashion.

'Ugh…' Bozes is speechless, the girl certainly have a point.

'Wait, the rumors that they defeated the Fire Dragon…' Caty starts.

'Are true' Lelei interrupts again, 'I was there when they blow it up in hundreds of little pieces. They also did it with less than fifty men. They defeated the ten thousand strong bandit army with less than forty of them. They are force to be reckoned with and you are lucky that their commander is a man who wants to solve this war in peaceful matter.'

Her speech left everyone speechless, Pina winked to her. "Good job" she thought as she turn around again and face her knights.

'I do not like it any more than you do. But all of us have to face reality one way or another. Bozes and Caty will follow me to the Clan Formal Household, Hamilton and Grey awaits us there. The rest of you take your horses and follow this Soviet officer' she points to the sergeant left of Lelei, 'he will show you where you can rest and feed your horses as well.'

With that said, Pina, Leleo, Caty and Bozes start walking toward center of the city while the rest of their knights followed Soviet officer to the camp they established for civilian use.

As they walked through the city both Bozes and Caty could see the level of devastation inflicted by the red army. There was no single building left standing, and there were major craters all over the street. But Soviet soldiers were quite busy, clearing out debris and restoring some of the houses. As they went closer to the household they could see that few of the houses that were not so badly damaged were restored and their occupants returned to live in them.

Just by seeing that both Bozes and Caty finally understand what princess Pina is talking about. The enemy that can wipe out more than half of their armies and do this kind of damage in mere seconds is not something the Empire can handle in this time. The peace treaty right now will give them a chance to recover some of their losses and learn a thing or two about their new enemy.

As they entered household yard Bozes and Caty could see Grey and Hamilton at the main entrance, with them were two figures. One is young blonde Elf and the other way too familiar.

'Is that Rory the Reaper?' Bozes asks.

'It is, she is under contract with the Soviet leader. So it's only natural for her to follow them wherever they go' Pina answer.

'She made a contract with their leader?' Caty asks.

'Indeed Caty, I could not believe it myself at first but once I heard backstory form her there was no more doubt in my mind about it.'

'Their leader sounds like one hell of a man' Bozes says, Pina slightly smile.

'You have no idea how right you are Bozes.'

Her response made both Bozes and Caty confused. They agreed to not ask any more questions until they meet the enemy leader himself. As they approached Grey noticed them and went ahead to give his formal greeting.

'Princess Pina' he greets and nods to her, she nods back. Grey then turns his attention to two other female knights 'Madam Bozes and Madam Beefeater, nice to see that you finally arrived. I hope that your trip was not too exhausting?

'Nice to see you alive and well Grey, as for our trip – it was not as exhausting as we are confused about the entire situation here' Bozes replies.

'I can understand, a lot has happened these past few days. But I can say one thing. The things are definitely going in the right direction.'

'How can you be so sure about that Grey? To me it seems quite desperate as we do not have enough strength to oppose this kind of power' Caty says.

'That is exactly why princess Pina is looking to establish peace treaty. Not only it will end the unnecessary bloodshed but it will also give us a chance to acquire some of the other world knowledge and use it for our own good' Hamilton joins the conversation.

'You really think that they will share their knowledge with us?' Bozes asks.

'They will, they have shared it so far with us. I am sure the Empire will be treated the same once normal relations are established' Lelei answers.

'Father really has the best interest for everyone here. He is kind soul that wants for everyone to be happy' Tuka says after overhearing their conversation. The two knights stumbled at the word "father".

'She speaks the truth, the men is calm and concentrated. Unlike your commanders that rushed through the GATE like little kids in candy shop' Rory added her opinion. Bozes and Caty could do nothing but stay silent at her holiness's words.

'So, shall we go inside? The talks between counts Formal and Soviet commander will start any minute now' Pina says.

'Wait a minute, they are going to talk?' Caty asks.

'Yes Caty and I have no idea, but I guess we will see once we get there' Pina says and starts heading toward the household entrance. The others followed in her wake. Once inside they entered the main throne room where they were greeted by miss Kaine and young Countess Formal, all of them sit down and Kaine's army of maids prepare them some tea and cookies.

'Even if you were not here for the battle I still must thank you for rushing here either way to assist us brave Knights of the Rose, this town will forever be in debt to you.'

'Thank you Countess Formal, you are very kind.' Bozes replies to Myui.

'I am surprised you are this calm even if the Soviets raized half of your city' Caty asks.

'While destruction of the city was indeed regrettable they did agreed to rebuild it from scratch. In three days they have repaired as many as twenty houses. If they keep it up with this speed they will be finished by the end of the month' miss Kaine replies. Her reply impressed Bozes and Caty.

'Only a month for a city this size, they are surely skilled engineers' Caty says.

'Countess, do you perhaps have any idea what they will talk to you about?' Bozes asks. Myui bowed her head.

'Unfortunately no, we do not know yet. But we suspect it may very well be their terms of compensation for their assistance.'

This is one thing everyone feared. When army helps out some town or village it usually asks for some kind of compensation. Sometimes its money, other times its food and drink. And sometimes it's women. While the Soviets do look like nice guys but there is always a chance that they will ask for some of them as compensation for their trouble.

'Why are you guys worried?' Rory asks. Her faint smile as she is basically laying at the edge of the sofa send some kind of relaxation in everyone's mind. 'I can see that all of you have wrong opinion about them. I will surely enjoy it when they prove you wrong.'

'What do you…' Caty starts but she didn't finish it as the doors to the throne room opened and the official Soviet delegation entered inside. They choose to stand exactly opposite to the throne, with imperials to the left of them and Lelei, Rory and Tuka to the right of them.

In the center of the stood Alexei, to his immediate left and right are Lieutenant Nikolai and Sergeant Ivan. Following them are Sergei and Natasha.

Bozes and Caty look at them and do not see anything out of the ordinary. To them the guy in the middle seems like he is too old for military, in some way he reminded them of Grey.

'Would you look at the old men in the middle, he seems way too and too funny to be their leader' Caty whispers to Bozes.

'I know. He must be a messenger. I do wonder who of those remaining three the Soviet commander is as all of them look alike. There is no special heraldry or clothing to tell them apart.'

Alexei stepped forward and took a note. He cleared his throat before he began his speech.

'Honorable Countess of the Clam Formal, as the overall commander of the Red Army forces and official representative of the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics I came here today to offer you this trade agreement.'

His introduction shocked both Bozes and Caty. "This… this old men is the guy who lead the Soviets?' Bozes though, still unable to believe what she is seeing. Alexei continues:

'I am offering you limited access to some of our goods as well as well as some of our plans on certain things that will help the development of the city. Like city plumbing, constant fresh water supply, some simple administrative tips on how to improve city administration and trade, solution to city squalor problems and much more.'

"They are not asking for any compensation? Instead they are giving them stuff for free?" Caty thought while not being able to hide her amazement.

'As compensation for that we ask two things. Each will come with few details I will explain after presenting the whole deal. First thing is that city of Italica, as main transportation hub for this area, will establish trade route with the town of New Moscow as well as allowing us to create depot here for all the trade goods and material we are going to trade in the future.

Second thing is to allow us to dig for certain recourse on specified locations. Recourse will be extracted and used by us. But we will teach you how to utilize it and as the time goes more and more of the resource will be transferred to your hands. When the time comes and you master the use of this resource we will transfer all the rights for it to you and establish a fair price tag that will benefit everyone.

Does this sounds fair to you young Countess? If you want I can answer any questions you have regarding this deal' Alexei put the note to the side, smile and stood ready to answer any question Myui might have for him.

'You are not going to ask for money or women as compensation for your victory here?' Bozes asks, Alexei looks at her and raise his right eyebrow. Both Bozes and Caty are wondering what they did wrong. It cannot be possible that these men really do not take any money and women after they have won the battle?

'You are expecting us to take women as a reward for our victory, and against their will to that? What are we, savages?' Sergei asks.

'Alexei, I know that things in your world are different but here the victorious army usually asks for something in return for their involvement in the battle from the people they saved. They are just surprised as you are the first one who did not asked for compensation, even the Imperial Army asked that form their own towns' Lelei explains.

'I see, Sergei take it easy on them. We were not that different as well when we were on their level of advancement.'

'I understand comrade general' Sergei noted and bowed to Bozes and Caty 'my apologies ladies.'

'No, no… we are sorry for asking such a question. But you have to understand…' Bozes started explaining.

'I do, it's just that Sergei is little more emotional than the rest of us' Alexei explains.

'This is nothing Bozes, you should have seen him when he saw Countess for the first time. He was very loud in his argument that children should not be burdened with politics' Pina further explains, after her explanation both of them looked at Sergei. He really doesn't look like the type of guy who would be so compassionate.

'What?' Sergei asks. But the two of them just kept staring at him until Countess Myui started speaking

'In any case, the agreement seems fair in the long run. I only have one question Comrade General.'

'Please call me Alexei, you have stand with Pina's knights and your own troops on the front lines despite being a kid and a political figure. You earned the right to call me Alexei.'

'Thank you Alexei, now as I was saying… This "resource" you are asking about. What is it exactly?'

'You must understand our curiosity in this matter as we are basically giving you something that we alone have no idea what that something is. We would like to know what we are essentially losing by giving you control over this resource' madam Kaine asks. Alexei smiles as he expected something like this from the old lady.

'To tell you the full truth, right now you are not losing anything as you have no use for it. In our world that resource is of a great importance as our entire society is fueled by it. In time we will teach you how to advance to the level when you will start to use it as well. But for time being I think that extracting it as a compensation for our knowledge and goods is more than fair.'

Countess Myui and lady Kaine had private talk in front of Soviets. They were whispering something to each other. After few seconds both of them nod and face Soviets again.

'We have decided to accept your trade agreement' she stood up and offered her hand to Alexei, 'let both of our people prosper from it.'

'Likewise' Alexei smiles and shake her hand, he is feeling much relived now as this is stepping stone for peace in these lands.

'Excuse me Alexei, can I have a word with you' Pina suddenly stood up and stood between Alexei and Myui.

'Of course Pina' he answers.

'I…I…I would like to request peace talks between the Soviet Union and the Empire. As princess and fifth child of our Emperor I alone have the authority to initiate them. What do you say?' She asks and stands firm, Alexei is caught in the moment. He is unable to respond.

Pina's knights are watching with great interest as well as Soviet soldiers present in the room. Bozes and Caty are the only two persons who are sceptic about this request, but even they can see that their comrades as well as city representatives are aiming for peace. After some time Alexei smiles before giving his answer:

'I cannot describe how happy I am to finally receive that request and have a chance to end this unnecessary bloodshed. However I am afraid I cannot do it right now' that made Pina quite nervous.

'You cannot? Why?' She asks, clearly upset over his answer.

'It's simple actually. I do not have the required authorization to initiate peace talks. The only thing I can guarantee you is this ceasefire. No Soviet soldier will attack any Imperial one unless provoked first. If you want real peace talks to start you will have to come with me and talk to my leaders.'

'You mean…' Grey starts.

'Yes, princess would need to come with us to our world and talk with President Gorbachev' Vladimir answer, Pina became a lot more nervous over that.

'You do not need to be afraid' Alexei put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, 'what you are doing is very brave and worthy of every praise. If you still want to do this I will follow you every step of the way. As I am sure they will as well' he points toward his men and three girls sitting on the sofa.

'You would do something for me, even if I am your enemy?'

'You have chosen to fight beside me and my soldiers, that act alone was enough for you to earn my respects as well as the respect of my men. Our two countries may still be hostile toward each other but I see you as my sister and I will do everything in my power to see your wish for peace is granted.'

Alexei's word touched Pina so much that she is blushing. She nods and afterwards both delegations left the room with new hopes for each side. Pina and her knights held a meeting where they were deciding their next step.

Pina choose to take Hamilton, Grey, Bozes and Caty with her and leave Norma in charge of her knights, she also gave orders to her knights to help Soviet soldiers in any way they can in rebuilding the city of Italica. Then they choose their formal wear and exit the city at the southern gate where two vehicles awaited them. One smaller one where Alexei and his closest men are driving and the other bigger one which is reserved for Pina and her envoy, Bozes and Caty look at the strange vehicles and cannot help but wondering about it.

'I wonder what kind of sorcery is powering this?' Bozes asks.

'They do not have magic in their world' they turn around and see Lelei, 'this is powered by something called the "engine". A mechanical device made and utilize by them, it shows how far ahead of us they are in understanding how their worlds works.'

'And they gave you access to this knowledge?' Caty asks.

'I cannot say that I fully understand it as their language is very hard and there are many things that seems spectacular to us but they take it for granted' Lelei look at the two knights. 'Only thing I can say for sure is that this peace talks will benefit the Empire greatly. We can learn a lot from them.'

'Come on Lelei' Tuka calls for Lelei. Both Lelei and two knights enter the back of the truck, they are soon joined by the rest of the Rose knights and two Soviet soldiers. One of them is Vladimir from the negotiation team while the other one is unknown.

The Soviet soldiers outside raise the back door and shut it, then the truck started moving. The imperials are very surprised to be driving in motor vehicle for the first time. Compared to them Lelei, Rory and Tuka are all quiet and calm. Two Soviet soldiers cannot help but laugh a bit.

'They are like kids on their first ride. Shame that we are enemies as they look so adorable' Vladimir says to Lelei who nods, his talk draw Pina's attention as well as attention of the rest of Rose Knights.

'You can understand our language as well?' Pina asks.

'Of course I can, my grandmother was from Italy. Grammar is not the same but my old comrade Abram here with me to help me out with that problem' Vladimir pats Abram on his shoulder.

'Comrade Sergeant, please…'

'Alright, I will not bother you anymore. Just do not come later on and ask for any Vodka.'

Two of them star arguing about what is fair and not, the three girls watched them and laugh to their insults that they are sending to one another.

'You seem to be getting along very well' Pina is commenting how the three girls and two Soviets enjoy their time together. 'I sure hope that our people can reach that level of friendship one day.'

'I am all for that miss, if my life experience thought me something is that war usually brings more harm than good' Vladimir replies.

'Why should we trust you at all? For all that we know this peace talks could be an interlude into our own occupation. How can we be sure that you are not buying time with this peace talks?' Bozes asks, her question shocked even other Rose Knights.

'Bozes, what are you doing?' Caty asks.

'Asking the obvious question, if they are men of honor they will reply honestly.'

'Bozes…' Pina starts. Grey also seems that he wants to say word or two to her.

'It's alright miss, I will handle this' Vladimir says and then looks at the blonde curly haired girl. 'I will ask you a question but before that but let me say something first' Vladimir removed his helmet and cleaned his forehead.

'This GATE thing suddenly opened in the middle of our capital. And from it came your army that immediately started to slaughter and capture our civilians. You didn't try to establish contact or to send a delegation. You outright rushed from the GATE and murder everyone you could find on the other side.

To say that our leaders were mad would be an understatement. Alexei was chosen as a leader of this group because every other general in the union wanted to gather and army and march straight into your capital and occupy it' the Rose Knights felt cold sweat going down their forehead. Pina and the others who witness the battle realized how close they were to total annihilation of the Empire.

'Now let me ask you, why should we trust you?' He points his finger toward Bozes, 'you who attacked us first without any warning or provocation from our side, who killed and enslaved our people and who openly declared war without any kind of sensible reason.'

Bozes has no response. She bows her head as she realizes that the old soldier is right. The Empire invaded them first and it is only natural for that force to retaliate in return. It's like he said, they are lucky that the person who got to be in charge here has no intention of conquering them.

'I wanted to ask about that Vladimir, why is Alexei the only one who didn't want to assault us?' Pina asks.

'Because he is pretty much the only one who is educated among that pile of buffoons that call themselves "generals", he was the only one who came and explained to the Politburo why did you attacked and how peace would be much more beneficial then sudden occupation.'

'Comrade, you cannot name the members of the military or Politburo like that' Abram says, not hiding how nervous he is about the whole thing.

'I can say whatever the hell I want about them, especially the truth. That is the freedom our general gave to us and I for one are not taking it lightly. In the end, these kids need to know with what kind of political animals they will have to deal with.'

'Your world sounds like very interesting place' Grey says, putting a smile to ease the tensions that Vladimir generated.

'Indeed it is friend, shame that we always live with the threat of total annihilation.'

Vladimir's sentence throws Rose Knights of course, they start to imagine what kind of power must exist in the other world when the country as powerful las the Soviet Union is under constant threat of annihilation.

'Their world is divided among two great powers. Each is trying to fight for dominance over the other. It has been like that for the last 40 years' Lelei explains.

'If you are so powerful why don't you destroy that enemy?' Caty asks.

'Two things miss, first is that both we and our enemies are on equal terms of destructive power. Second is that if we ever go to war the entire world will cease to exist.'

'Ridiculous, are you saying that you have the power to destroy the world?' Bozes asks.

'Several times over actually, not the planet entirely but we can eradicate pretty much entire living world. And that is if we use only one type of weapon' Vladimir's answer sent chill down Bozes's spine. There is no hint of hesitation or lie in his eyes, they really have the power to destroy the world and that made Rose Knights shiver in fear.

'Sorry for scaring you, but that is the truth as much as it hurts. We may seem like monsters to you now but alongside that much horror we also have the equal amount of good things that we have done and made' Vladimir puts smile to ease the Rose Knights. Among all of them only Pina and Grey relaxed and smiled, the rest are still in shock over what they just heard.

'If nothing else your worlds sounds very interesting. I hope to visit it one day and enjoy all the wonders it can offer' Pina says.

'Well your wish will come true sooner then you expect princess' Abram says, 'because to meet our officials you will need to travel to our world.'

'That means….' Pina starts.

'Exactly what it sounds like princess. You are going to pass through the GATE and into the other side.' Vladimir answers.

Pina got nervous, what horrors and wonders might be on the other side of the GATE? What kind of strange land and exotic creatures? Her mind is filled with images of what they might find there and what might happen to them.

'Mister Vladimir, can you tell us what is your country like?' Hamilton asks.

'I am also interested in hearing this, father never talked about home' Tuka says. Vladimir took of his helmet and sighed. Everyone could see that he is very happy for someone to ask him this kind of question.

'Our land… our Mother Russia… is country filled with wonders of our world. From the arctic ice to the Asian desert, from high mountain chains to the deep lakes and long rivers, from the harsh winters and hot summers you name it and we have it. Our country is biggest one in the world so it's only natural that we have many great things in it.'

'How big is your country exactly?' Caty asks. Vladimir scratched his head for a bit.

'It is hard to show you without a map or metric units that you use to calculate something… But, let's say that you travel through our country with horse… you would need at least half a year to travel from one end to another.'

'Half of year, you need that long to travel from one end of this continent to another' Grey says.

'So there are oceans around your continent?' Abram asks.

'Yes as far as we can say, we know about Eastern, Southern and Western Ocean. We know that Northern Ocean exists as well but that area is not fully mapped yet due to hostile species living there' Lelei says.

'What hostile species are we talking about?' Vladimir asks.

'For beginning there are various forms of dragons. They are not as big or powerful as Fire Dragon but still numerous' Tuka says.

'And then you have Orcs and Goblins, they are mostly fighting among themselves but when they unite form time to time they can pose an serious threat to even Imperial lands' Lelei says.

'Orcs and goblins exist here as well, who would have thought…?' Vladimir says.

'Do you not have such dangerous races in your world as well?' Hamilton asks, noting the reaction of Soviet soldiers at the mention of two races.

'As far as sentient beings go only humans exists in our world. We do have our fair share of dangerous wild life but that is still nothing when compared to dragons you guys have here' Vladimir answers.

'Only humans exist in your world? There are no other races?' Bozes asks.

'As far as we know no other race except humans existed, our history varies from six to ten thousand years in the past and in its entirety there are no records of other civilization beside humanity' Abram gave the answer to Bozes's question.

'It must have been nice to have entire world for yourself, free to explore and shape it as you want' Caty says.

'I would not say it was quite as easy as you say Caty' Grey says.

'Why is that Grey?' she asks.

'You see little knight, when humans have no other enemy to fight against they turn on themselves. It happened few times here, I don't see why it would not happen in their world as well' Rory says.

'What she says is truth, if I could describe our entire history in one word it would be war. And we only got better in at as time go on' Abram says. The look in some of the knight eyes is slowly getting filled with disgust, Vladimir could tell as much.

'Hey, I never said that our world is all sunshine and candy. But it has its good points. After all, you will see once we get to Alnus' Vladimir says, what followed was an awkward silence between the two groups.

'You should relax honorable knights, these men have no intention to harm you' Lelei says, breaking the awkward silence. 'You are after all their long lost brothers and sisters. I am sure thye will be delighted to live with you in peace rather than trough the look of their weapons' that statement kicked another fire among Rose Knights.

'What do you mean mage that we are their lost kin?' Bozes asks.

'Ever heard of Rome?' Vladimir asks. Few of the Rose Knights looked into each other.

'It is the most famous legend among our people. Rome is the founding father of our nation and our guardian. But that is ancient legend so old many scholars consider it a myth these days. How do you know about it?' Pina explains and asks, she got even more interested after she saw Vladimir and Abram smiling like they have some kind of great revelation to deliver them.

'You see princess… Our capital in our world is considered "Third Rome". Since first two have fallen long time ago and we have continued the tradition and spirit of the second one' Vladimir's explanation shocked all Rose Knights.

'You are telling us that Rome is real?' Grey asks.

'Imperium Romanum, one of the greatest empire that has ever existed in our world. For over two thousand years it has endured great hardships and expanded its influence all over the world. In the end, it was destroyed by hordes of enemies attacking it from all sides. But even if the empire has perished their culture, religion and achievements survived to this day and many of them represent founding stones of our own civilization' Abram explains a brief history of Rome, Rose Knights cannot help but feel amazed while listening to it.

'We are considered "Third Rome" because we have continued legacy of the passing "Second Rome" to some degree. They gave us culture and religion, and when their capital city finally fell to the enemy the last descendant of their imperial family married to our leader at the time. For us that alone is enough to consider ourselves their successors even if many try to dispute those claims, but you are different story altogether' Vladimir says.

'Yes, you are true descendants of Romans. Even if there are some differences like the language and culture, the overall feel is still there. You are literally a living lost treasure form our past. I think that Alexei knows that and it was most probably the main reason why he is advocating so much for peaceful solution' Abram says.

The talk at the back of the truck quickly became brief historic lesion as Rose Knights wanted to know more about Rome and why it fell. Meanwhile, in the front car Alexei is reading the reports that Pavel sent him via radio. He smiles, because among them he can see the name of an old friend who is going to wait for them once they reach Alnus Hill. They were now literally five minutes away from Alnus, Alexei cannot wait to get there and shake hands with an old friend again.

At the same at Alnus Hill Pavel with the rest of officer's staff and honor guard are standing at the front of the GATE, waiting for their newest arrivals. Pavel can see that most of the people gathered here are nervous, some of the mare even complaining quietly amongst themselves. The situation only became worse once the new arrivals start arriving through the GATE.

'Comrade Colonel, I must file up complain about this' one of the young officers says. He is quite nervous to the point where he is almost shaking like crazy.

'Dully noted comrade, now return to your post.'

'Comrade Colone…'

'I said return to your post!' Pavel shout, that was more than enough for the young officer to step back and get into the line with the other officers. 'I do not like it any more than you do but such are the orders from Moscow' He turns around to see the newcomers as they slowly march from the GATE, he can see that they even brought tanks and heavy equipment.

'Well, I guess not everything is bad…' Pavel, says as he noticed familiar face going toward him. Pavel offers his hand and the other person shakes it.

'Nice to see you again Colonel' the other figure says in soft friendly voice.

'Likewise general' Pavel replies.

'So tell me, where is my pal Alexei?'

'He will be here shortly, please allow me to show you our HQ' Pavel and the newly arrived general head toward HQ building. Just in time when Alexei's envoy has passed the first Alnus Hill checkpoint.


End file.
